A New Battlefront
by ElfinKnight
Summary: Just after Atlantis's arrival on Earth, John's life takes a happy turn when he suddenly gets custody of his 13-year-old, genius daughter, Rebecca. The impact she has on the lives of everyone on at Atlantis quickly becoming apparent. With this and a new enemy surfacing, threatening the very survival of humanity, John has more to fight for than ever before.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Also, this is going to be a LONG story with a Todd/John relationship that spawns up as it goes, so be forewarned. It also may be a while between updates, because I jump from story to story I work on but I have the first few chapters of this one written already, so they will be posted weekly until I run out of already finished ones and then it will be whenever a chapter is finished.**

Chapter 1: Catalyst

Atlantis had been on Earth for two weeks after defeating the Super Wraith Hive ship that had attempted to attack. After some political shuffling, it was decided that John, McKay, Teyla, and Woolsey would be flying to D.C. to present the formal argument for making some serious changes and upgrades to Atlantis before sending it back to the Pegasus Galaxy. The primary argument for this was that it was militarily much sounder to keep Atlantis and the fight with the Wraith in Pegasus and thus they needed more troops. Or at least, that was John's part of the meetings. He also had a few personal plans for his free time while in D.C.

John checked his e-mail one last time and smirked. Nancy had responded to the information that he would be in town rather quickly. Not that he cared about Nancy in particular, but her tone about the custody arrangements of their daughter had changed dramatically recently and John was seriously hoping to press for at the very least two two-week long visitations, so that he had a valid reason for traveling all the way back from Pegasus and taking the three week long trip back.

Nancy's most recent e-mail informed him that she wanted a meeting with him and his lawyer about altering the custody arrangements. John was surprised that Nancy was the one to bring it up, but he certainly wasn't going to argue with the possibility of getting to see his daughter more than he currently could which was barely anytime at all. John was limited to e-mailing her for the most part. He sent Nancy an e-mail of times when he would be avalible and that he would see about contacting a lawyer. He then sent an e-mail off to his brother Dave, asking to borrow the family lawyer for possibly altering the custody arrangements.

Once the e-mails were sent, John grabbed his duffle bag and headed down to the gate room. He congregated with the others and smiled at Teyla, who was wearing a neat little pants-suit that Woolsey had arranged for her, among other clothing, "Sorry about the delay. I got an e-mail about some personal business that I need to attend to while we're in D.C." John stated.

"Anything we should be concerned about, Colonel?" Woolsey asked.

John smiled, "I can't say for sure, Woolsey. It depends on what my ex-wife wants to meet me about."

"Oh, please tell me she didn't send you a booty call," McKay whined just before they were beamed onto the Dedalus.

John chuckled, "No. That ship sailed when I learnt that she was cheating on me, Rodney."

Rodney gave a silent oh and nodded, "Then it's about your father? Something about your family inheritance or something?"

John hesitated about responding, but if things went the way he genuinely hoped they would, there was a high probability that they would find out eventually anyways, "Actually, it's about our daughter… My daughter… Rebecca."

He cringed at the silence that followed as they were beamed down into the gate room of the SGC. Rodney predictably exploded and then badgered John for information about how he had a daughter that he told no one about for five years. John had even outright lied about having kids before, on more than one of their missions, which Rodney was quick to point out. This lasted all the way to the airport, where Woolsey told Rodney to shut up. John just let it wash over him up until then. It was better to let Rodney just get it all out rather than keep it in and let it fester. It was always worse when he festered. Once they were all through security at the airport, an accelerated process because of their government IDs, John leaned in and quietly said what he needed to say.

"It wasn't personal, my not sharing it, Rodney. I didn't tell anyone. At first it was because I thought it was a one-way trip and I didn't want people asking questions and rubbing salt in a still very fresh wound at the time. Then, I didn't want to risk it getting out to the Wraith. If it got around Atlantis, and it would get around Atlantis what with how much people gossip, if one of our people were questioned and they learnt that I had a weakness like that? Sure, Rikki's safe as possible here on Earth, but if they actually got to Earth, she would be a prime target," John finished. "Believe me, I wish I had been able to open up to you guys about it sooner, it's just…"

"It was too painful to speak of. Why did you accept going to Atlantis if you had a daughter here?" Teyla asked, keeping her voice just as quiet. Thankfully, their group was being given space by the other people sitting down to wait for boarding.

John groaned, "Because I had recently been denied, for the third time, any custody rights, all within a few months of my divorce to Nancy being finalized. All I got when Nancy and I divorced was two weekends a year. It drove me nuts because the judge was clearly bias against military parents. He said that 'You can't provide a stable home environment for a child when you have a history of extensive exposure to extreme violence'. That's what I got all three times I petitioned for shared custody. I wasn't even asking for primary or full custody, and Rikki hates Nancy, she's never gotten along with her mother, but there's nothing I could do about it because the courts wouldn't listen. It was agonizing not being able to see my little girl as much as I wanted." He admitted, keeping a close eye on the gathering numbers of people.

"And you're hoping the situation has changed? Are you going to petition for greater custody rights? I can call in a few favors in family court. The world does owe you a great deal," Woolsey remarked thoughtfully.

"Well, that's the thing. Nancy's the one who's requesting the meeting with lawyers and a judge and her tone about the whole visitation thing has changed recently. I get the feeling that now that Rikki is almost thirteen and just got her doctorate in theoretical physics, Nancy's getting a bit frustrated. She and Rikki have never really understood each other because Rikki's a certifiable genius and Nancy only cares about what furthers her own political career," John stated. "I wouldn't mind you pulling strings about leave if it looks like I'm getting a few weeks a year though. I want as much time with Rikki as I can get."

"Your thirteen-year-old daughter just got a PhD in Theoretical Physics?" Rodney looked stunned by the notion then suddenly pleased. "You know, they say that at that age, there's so much potential for learning still that they absorb things like a sponge. See if you can push for full custody. I would love being a mentor to a kid that smart."

John and Teyla looked at Rodney in shock at the complete 180 he had done on the topic, "You don't like kids. You hate that world with all the kids on it." John shot at his friend.

"I hate stupid kids that ask stupid questions. A thirteen-year-old Physics prodigy is a whole different cup of tea, that's someone useful. Plus, if she's got as strong an expression of the ATA gene as you do… well the possibilities are damned near limitless," McKay stated looking excited.

"Yeah, well don't get too excited, I still don't know what Nancy wants. She's been pretty damned vague about the whole thing," John responded. He glanced at Woolsey. "Hey, you used to be a lawyer, right?"

"Yes, but I never practiced family law," Woolsey warned.

"No, but you probably know a few good lawyers who do, don't you? Money's not a problem. My dad split the inheritance shockingly fairly between Dave and myself," John stated. "Just in case my brother's lawyer isn't avalible."

"Well, it's always best to have someone who specializes in the field anyways. I'll put in a few calls when we land if its needed. It looks like we're about to begin boarding now," Woolsey pointed out.

He was right too. The flight was a six hour, red-eye from Colorado Springs to D.C. Rodney tried badgering John for more information on Rikki's dissertation, but Woolsey and Teyla quickly shut him up, reminding him that they were going straight from the airport, to the hotel for check-in, and then to back to back meetings and needed to sleep while they could. John forced himself to get as comfortable as possible and sleep. One of the few advantages to being military was that he had learnt to sleep wherever, whenever he could.

John was woken by Teyla shaking his shoulder. She looked like she hadn't slept at all. John smiled, "I forgot this was your first time on a plane. Didn't agree with you?" The two of them had been seated next to each other for the flight.

"I had a great many things on my mind. We appear to be descending, I wished to speak with you before the others awoke. I can understand why you chose not to confide in Mr. Woolsey, and Rodney has difficulties keeping out of other people's business and is unable to keep a secret, but why did you really not share that you had a daughter with me? Was I not worthy of your trust?" Teyla looked less than pleased with him. TJ had been left back on Atlantis with Jennifer too, so John was convinced that also had kept her up.

"At first, I needed time to get to know you. After that, it was painful, Teyla. Rikki's my only kid, and Nancy, well, she didn't exactly force me to stay away, but she's made it damned difficult to stay close with my daughter. Rikki and I've managed. We've sent e-mails as often as possible. She knows about as much as I _can _tell her about you guys, so if you meet her, don't be surprised if she recognizes you. It's just… it hurts talking about her when I basically had her ripped away from me when Nancy and I ended things," John admitted. "Like I said before, it isn't personal. I just… I guess I didn't know _how_ to talk about it with anyone, you know?"

"I do not. I could not imagine keeping something like that quiet, though you have always been someone who has kept their private life very private, so I suppose I should not be surprised. You are hoping to see your daughter while we are here though?" Teyla asked.

John nodded, shifting and stretching a little, "Yeah, that's the hope. Nancy did say that Rikki would be present, so there's that."

Teyla nodded, "Well, I hope things turn out well, whatever the situation is." That seemed to be all she had to say on the matter.

Teyla reached across the aisle and gently shook Woolsey's arm to wake him as well. The flight attendants started going around and making people put their seats up in preparation for the landing and John noticed Teyla clutching her armrest.

"Not a fan of flying?" He asked slightly teasing. "You never had any problems in the Puddle Jumpers."

"The Puddle Jumpers rarely experience turbulence, as we have a great deal on this flight. Also, knowing one's pilot personally is a great inspirer of confidence," Teyla pointed out, to John's amusement.

"Yeah, maybe we can take the short way home, eh?" John suggested, sympathetically. "O'Neill may be willing to lend us his office for it."

"If he does, I would be extremely grateful. I dislike this mode of transportation intensely," Teyla stated firmly.

John smiled as they truly began their descent. Once the plane was on the ground, Teyla finally relaxed. Woolsey took in Teyla's frazzled appearance and smiled, "You know, we won't need you for the first half of the day, if you want to get some sleep in the hotel room. I take it you dislike flying?"

"Not flying in general, just… _this_ mode of flying," Teyla responded. "I would not object to John's suggestion of taking alternative means of returning back to… base."

"I'll see what I can do," Woolsey stated as they pulled their carry-ons out from the overhead bins.

They were in first-class, upgraded curtsey of John's uniform, so they got off the plane rather quickly. Then it was a matter of navigating their way through the throngs to the doors. They were just past the security when John heard a shrieked, "Daddy!" He managed to turn toward the origin in time to catch the girl that practically threw herself in his arms. She looked like a miniature female version of John, with his vibrant blue eyes, wild, wavy black hair, though hers was halfway down her back, and even the same facial structure, just slightly softened by her younger age and gender. There was no doubt for the others that this was, without a doubt, John Sheppard's daughter.

John was surprised to see his daughter just after landing and utterly confused when he saw his brother not far away, "Dave? What's going on? Why are you here? Don't get me wrong, thrilled to see you both, just very confused."

"Well, your e-mail said what time you were landing, and I figured you would want a heads up of what you're walking into and to see Rikki asap," Dave responded. "So, I played best brother and uncle ever and came to pick you up."

"That's great, but we kind of already got a ride, curtsey of the U.S. tax dollars. What am I walking into with Nancy?" John asked with concern now, still having his daughter's arms clinging to him like she was four and not nearly a teenager.

"Mom found an asshole for a boyfriend," Rikki whined, literally whined, into his uniform coat. Rikki didn't normally behave this way as she had a similar personality to John, thus concerning him further.

"Nancy's current boyfriend just proposed, but he wants to focus on building a 'real' family with Nancy and has requested that Nancy give you Rikki so she can focus on their future together," Dave stated as he took John's suitcase and they started walking again. Teyla and Rodney were each eyeing Rikki for their own reasons. "Apparently, he feels that since Rikki has just defended her dissertation on harnessing quantum energy or whatever it is, she should be old enough to get a job and even live on her own if she wants and he thinks that Nancy should focus on 'their children' in the future."

"That doesn't sound like Nancy. She was always tried her best to be a good mom to Rikki, even if they didn't see eye to eye. She's never let some guy she's dating come between her and our daughter," John stated looking down at Rikki who shook her head.

"Not this time. This time she's 'in love like she's never felt before,'" Rikki made a gagging motion and then clung to him again.

"Listen, I don't know the full story. What I do know is that Nancy packed Rikki off to my place with all her stuff to 'make room' for Jerry, that's the guy's name, by the way. I was pissed beyond all belief and told her that if she wasn't going to be a mom to Rikki anymore, she needed to sign full custody over to you and she said that as soon as you were avalible, that's exactly what she planned on doing," Dave looked as disgusted by the whole thing as John felt. "That was a couple of months ago."

"Well, I guess I will have to pull a few strings for you after all. However, since she already has a PhD, I believe it's not going to be a problem accommodating your daughter on base, Colonel. We all know we need you enough that the IOA will make more than a few exceptions in your case," Woolsey stated.

John nodded, relieved that Woolsey would go to bat for him on the matter. Rodney had perked up at the information and was eying Rikki, "I've been wanting an assistant for a while. I'd want to look at her dissertation, but given her… lineage, I think it's safe to say she should be perfect as an assistant."

John rolled his eyes, "Let's get the paperwork figured out first, McKay. Dave, why don't I ride with you guys to the hotel. You said you have all of Rikki's stuff at your house?"

"Yeah. I also brought a duffle of Rikki's stuff if you want her to stay with you in the hotel. Or you could come stay at the house?" Dave looked like he wanted John to say yes.

John sighed, "We're in back to back meetings for the next two days and then we will be buried in negotiations. I'm only in some of them though. Teyla, you're staying at the hotel for the morning, right? Do you mind if Rikki stays with you? I'm not in the afternoon meetings and was planning on meeting with Nancy if she was avalible then."

"She called me this morning saying to bring the family lawyer and meet her at the courthouse. She already has a family judge booked for a quick transfer of custody meeting. It's not going to be in court, since she's just transferring full custody to you and there isn't going to be any fighting this time around," Dave stated as they collected the guy holding up the sign with 'Woolsey, Sheppard' on it.

John nodded, "Alright. So, I'm guessing she responded to that e-mail I sent her last night while we were in flight. Mr. Woolsey, do you mind?"

"Not at all. I understand that sometimes family matters take precedence. As you said, you are only needed for our morning meeting today. Mr. Sheppard, I can arrange for someone to come and collect Dr. Sheppard's belongings and have them transported back to our base this afternoon, after the paperwork has been signed, if that's alright with you?" Woolsey stated, being rather accommodating. John had to admit the man was odd in how he operated, but he had grown on him. Of course, the man didn't really have any other options. They _needed _John on Atlantis, and now John came with his daughter, so Rikki was going too, end of story.

"Yeah, that's no problem. So, John, you're riding with us?" Dave asked to make sure, even though John had just stated it.

"Yeah, just stay right behind the government car, and you should be good. They've put us up in a pretty nice hotel," John responded. He let the guy who was picking them up take his carry-on and then broke off and followed his brother to his car.

Once they were settled, John and Rikki both sitting in the back, John turned to Rikki, "How long has this situation been going on?"

"Pretty much since Mom started dating Jerry. Jerry _loves _Mom but he isn't interested in being dad to _someone else's _kid. That was just fine with me because I've always made it clear that _you're _my dad, not whatever guy Mom's dating this month. Only, he didn't leave after a few months like the other guys normally do. He stuck around, and now he's proposed. Personally, I'm glad Mom's accepted and is letting me live with you. She's always focused more on her career than me. I mean, you've been all over the place and you still know me better than Mom does. Besides, she has become a lot more distant lately," Rikki finished with a huff.

John smiled, "That's because you got your brains and personality from me, kid. You're Mom just has a hard time following you when you start spouting off about equations and string theory and all that."

"Well, that's not my fault, now is it?" Rikki stated with a pout before perking up. "So, you always mentioned in your e-mails that your base is really far away and that it's on the ocean. How far away is it? Mom already arranged for me to get a passport because she said it's probably overseas and she didn't want any delays with the custody transfer."

"Yeah, she mentioned getting you a passport a while back. I had to sign the paperwork for it. I guess she's been planning this for a while. Well, I can't tell you much about it other than what I already have, because Uncle Dave doesn't have clearance and I still need to get bringing you with me cleared with my chain of command. I don't think that there will be any major problems, but I need to get it cleared first before I start sharing. Tell you what though, Teyla is going to nap for a few hours in the morning and you'll have to stick with her in the hotel, but this afternoon, after we do the whole custody thing, I am going to introduce you to someone that I happen to know will be staying at the hotel with us and you're going to lose your _mind_ getting to meet and _he _can tell you _all _about the base I work on," John smirked.

Dr. Jackson didn't know it, but his book had been something that a friend had given Rikki as a gag gift when she was four and already devouring chapter books like she was starved for knowledge. It had ended up beginning his daughter's obsession with the sciences and particularly with space travel and quantum physics, which is how she figured the 'ancient aliens' traveled to Earth and built the pyramids. The fact that she would soon be learning that Dr. Jackson had been right and seeing evidence of exactly that made John chuckle.

"Who is it?" Rikki asked, her eyes lighting up. His little girl always loved surprises and her curiosity had always made them nearly impossible to maintain. "Who am I going to meet?"

"Well, I won't say who. That would ruin the surprise and give you too much information at once. However, I can tell you that this person is a personal hero of yours," John stated, knowing that that was safe, as Rikki had a lot of personal heroes. They pulled into the parking garage of the hotel they were staying in just then.

When they climbed out, John grabbed Rikki's duffle bag and they headed over to the government car to join the others. Dave shouted to him, "Good luck with the Hell Bitch! The family lawyer will meet you at the courthouse. Make sure you and Rikki come around for dinner with us before you disappear to wherever your base is." Before getting back in his car and driving off.

"Hell bitch?" Rodney asked as they headed into the hotel lobby.

"Mom is a hell bitch. She's selfish and only ever cared about me as far as it made her look good to be mom to a genius," Rikki stated stiffly.

"Rikki, you know that's not true. Your mother loves you… she just… Nancy's never been good with expressing her feelings. She holds what she's feeling in until she can't anymore and then it comes out all at once," John stated, trying to be reasonable. He didn't want to be one of those parents that fought over their children. Yes, he loved his daughter and wanted custody of her, but he wasn't going to tear his ex-wife down to get it. That wasn't the right way to raise a child, especially not one as perceptive as Rikki was.

"And by that Dad means that Mom lets her rage build and then unleashes it on everyone in her path. Of course, if she made any effort to communicate the problem when it was small, it would never get to flood gates opening proportions, but heaven forbid you tell her that. Dad, I know you mean well, but Mom has always been a shit parent. The judges were stupid not to give you full custody of me to begin with," Rikki stated promptly.

Woolsey was checking them in and handed over a two key cards to John when he finished, "I had them change Teyla's room to a double, so Rikki could stay with her."

John nodded, "Good thing that the hotel isn't over booked."

"More like good thing I'm in the good books with the owner of the hotel. It's why we can afford to stay here. Let's just say that I ran litigation for him on a sticky legal situation in my early years as a lawyer and he is eternally grateful for my work," Woolsey stated with an unimpressed sniff.

"I'm not going to ask," John stated as they entered the elevator with the bell boy checking to make sure they didn't want help with their luggage.

"It's not legal for me to share," Woolsey responded as he pressed the button for the floor that they were on. "Dr. Sheppard, the concierge did say that there is a lounge with books, and a pool, if you get bored while waiting for your father while he's in the meetings."

Rikki smiled, "I'll be fine. I brought a few notebooks with ideas I want to work on when I find a job."

"Consider yourself employed, kid. I need an assistant and you have the necessary degree for it," Rodney stated. "I still want to see the dissertation though."

John rolled his eyes and nudged his daughter, "He's been like that since he learnt that you aren't thirteen yet and just got a doctorate. He seems to be eager to train you to be the perfect scientist."

Rikki shrugged, "Can the government employ a minor?"

"Technically, no. But you would be working for me, not the government," Rodney stated.

"The rules are a little… blurry where we work, Rikki. You'll understand when you see the place. Woolsey, Jackson got here ahead of us, right?" John wanted to make sure that his daughter did get it all explained by her personal hero and the last name was common enough that Rikki wasn't likely to realize immediately.

"Yes, he should be there in the morning meetings and free this afternoon, why?" Woolsey asked.

"Just checking," John stated with a smirk.

It took them all of fifteen minutes or so to get everyone settled in their rooms and cleaned up before they really had to get going. John gave his daughter another hug and switched from his BDUs to dress blues for the meeting. He forced himself to pay attention throughout the meeting and participate, giving statistics and numbers. Todd had become a shockingly useful resource once they learnt that Steve had just been a picky eater and that Wraith _could _feed on pigs if there was no other avalible food sources. Todd admitted that it wasn't _as _effective, but if Keller was happy to finish the retrovirus, he would and could survive on pig until then.

This information was shared, along with their success rates against the Wraith, the fact that they currently had three mostly charged ZPMs, things like that. He did emphasize the need for more scientists and military personnel on Atlantis and even said that he didn't care what country they came from, as long as they were capable of fighting the Wraith and willing to follow his orders. This excited several of the IOA members as Woolsey had said it would, but John knew that if they were going to truly defeat the Wraith, they couldn't make the Ancients' mistake and underestimate them. That meant they needed more men, better armed, and better trained and making the battle a truly global effort would help with keeping the other governments involved happier.

They also needed a lot more fire power. As much as he hated to admit it, John knew that his daughter was going to be perfect for coming up with that firepower. He was personally convinced that his kid was smart enough to manage galactic domination if she put her mind to it. Fortunately, all she cared about was science for science sake. That meant that they could give her ideas and she would just run with them, not caring what they were being used for long term.

He knew he got a little distracted toward the end of the morning meeting and was relieved when they were dismissed. John grabbed his things and headed over to Woolsey, "Hey, I'm gonna head back to the hotel, grab Rikki, and get lunch before we need to meet with Nancy."

Woolsey gave a nod, "I called and arranged for a second car for you, so you can deal with your business. Once you're done with your custody meeting, I've had them send some personnel over to Gen. O'Neil's office to go with you to collect your daughter's things and get them back to Atlantis."

"Thanks. I appreciate that," John stated. Before he could say anything further, they were interrupted by the Russian and UK Representatives. Russel Chapman represented the UK and the new Russian representative was Konstantin Nechayev.

"Col. Sheppard, during the meeting, you said that you have no objections to overseeing military personnel from other countries, provided they obey your orders. Do you truly mean that?" Nechayev asked, his expression serious.

"Of course, I do. We need all the help we can get with fighting the Wraith. If Russia or the UK are capable of sparing the men and those men are willing to follow my orders, I have no problems with them being on Atlantis. Atlantis is primarily an international effort. If we have scientists from all parts of the world, I don't see why we shouldn't have military from all parts of the world as well. I mean, it's not like the Wraith will give a damn about borders if they get to Earth. If you do want to send people from your countries though, try DNA testing them for the ATA gene. If they have it at full strength or recessive, that will help massively since we need as many people with the gene as possible for things like flying Puddle Jumpers. A lot of the Ancient technology doesn't work unless you have the gene," John stated.

"And Gen. O'Neil and Gen. Laundry have no objection to Atlantis becoming a joint military operation?" Chapman asked, his expression just as serious.

"They agree with me in the assessment that Atlantis's place is in the Pegasus Galaxy fighting the Wraith and that if other countries are willing to contribute to the fight, we shouldn't have issues as long as they can follow _my_ command," John stated firmly. He wasn't bluffing either. The past two weeks had been filled with involved discussions with the two generals going over the need to get the necessary resources wherever they could.

"Are you avalible to discuss this further this afternoon? I believe it is some science and social meetings after this. You aren't needed for those, correct?" Chapman asked.

"Unfortunately, I have personal matters to deal with this afternoon. I have tomorrow afternoon off from the meetings though. I'm sure I can get Gen. O'Neil in on them for further discussions. Now, if you don't mind, I do need to get going," John smiled.

"That sounds like an excellent plan. I hope your personal matters are resolved to your liking," Chapman stated, being rather friendly.

"Oh, I expect them to be. Good day, gentlemen," John gave them both nods before exiting quickly.

The trip back to the hotel was otherwise uneventful, and John found Teyla and Rikki talking when he got back to the hotel. Teyla was now dressed as formally as Woolsey could hope and Rikki was eying her with suspicion, "Dad, did you know Teyla's never been on a plane before she flew here from Colorado?"

"I did. Come on, let's get some lunch before we meet with your mother and the lawyers," John stated. "Teyla's got a lunch meeting with some very important people who want to know a bit more about her."

Rikki eyed the woman again, "Her or her weird culture that's apparently advanced enough to know a good deal about our culture, like TVs, and computers, but has no idea what Facebook or American Idol are?"

John chuckled, "What she knows about our culture, she learnt from me and Dr. McKay, and the people we work with. I will explain later, once you're legally mine."

Rikki broke into a big smile at that, "Thank god Mom finally came to her senses. She… I know she _does _technically love me… she's just super distant because she doesn't understand. She thinks I should have gotten a doctorate in Linguistics just because I'm good with languages and get a job working for the UN. Just because I speak thirteen languages, doesn't mean I want to spend my life translating for some foreign ambassador who can't tell the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese."

John chuckled. Rodney had no idea what he was getting into, "Hey, but you already have an excellent job prospect. Dr. Rodney McKay is the chief of sciences for my base and he's saying he wants you as his assistant. Believe me, you will be on the cutting edge working with him. I guarantee you won't be getting bored."

Rikki perked up as they got into the government car and John ordered the driver to take them to a fast food joint. They didn't have time for a sit-down lunch and John hadn't had fast food in ages. Rikki eyed him as she asked her next question, "I've never heard of Dr. Rodney McKay. If he's at the cutting edge of sciences, why have I never read his work published in scientific journals?"

"Because most of his work is highly classified, and what he can publish, he does under a false name these days. You can quiz him all you like once you start working for him. Trust me, once you are in the know, you would literally kill a dozen people if it meant you got to work as his assistant," John stated, knowingly. It was true to, Rikki wasn't an inherently violent person, but nothing got between his daughter and her science. They pulled up to the drive-thru, gave their orders to the driver who placed them, and John handed the Sergeant a twenty to pay with.

Once they got their food, the pair ate in silence as they were driven to the courthouse. Before they got out, John paused, "Listen Rikki, don't mention Teyla or how 'odd' she seemed to you while we're in there. There's nothing wrong with her, but her presence in the U.S. is technically classified, so…"

"Mum's the word. Got it," Rikki stated. They got out of the car and headed into the courthouse. John told the sergeant that it probably wouldn't take longer than a half hour.

Dave was waiting with the family lawyer just inside and quickly explained that he decided to come as backup, just in case. John shook his hand, "Well, this is Rebecca's father, Col. John Sheppard, you remember him, Edward."

"I do. This case should be straight forward enough. I've already looked over the paperwork that your ex-wife sent ahead to review. She's requesting that you take full custody and she will pay $1000 a month in child support, but she doesn't want any further contact with you or your daughter. The child support will be transferred from her lawyer to myself and myself to you," Edward Sullivan was their long-time family lawyer and a good one at that. He had done his best to get John joint custody when he had originally divorced Nancy, but the judge had been extremely biased.

"She wants zero contact with Rebecca and me, not even weekends twice a year?" John asked in concern.

"That's what the papers said. I'm a bit baffled by it myself. She is even giving up all legal rights to Ms. Sheppard. It's highly unusual. However, it does give you your daughter and you don't have to share, so I wouldn't complain if I were you," Mr. Sullivan stated with a shrug. The man clearly remembered John's anger at not getting his daughter before and was happy that his client would finally be getting what he wanted.

"Yeah, I just don't want her to come regretting it later and demanding I give Rikki back," John grumbled.

Sullivan chuckled, "Not likely that she would win that one. Your brother says you're the base commander for your current posting which means you aren't getting bounced around, your daughter has fully completed her education, _and_ your ex is willingly giving up custody of her child to you with these kinds of stipulations? Judges tend to frown on that kind of behavior. I doubt even if she _did _try reneging down the line that she would get your daughter back."

John nodded, "Alright, how soon is the meeting?"

"We should head over now," Sullivan responded. "It's in ten minutes, so we don't want to be late and found in contempt."

John snorted. They all followed the lawyer and were allowed into the judge's chambers quickly. Nancy stood stiffly and barely glanced at Rikki. John frowned at how indifferent his ex-wife was being towards their daughter, given that she had originally fought tooth and nail for custody of Rikki, just like he had. Still, it was a quick meeting. The Judge frowned at Nancy's request for no contact but approved it provided she paid the appropriate child support and the paperwork was signed. As soon as they were out of the chamber's, John stopped Nancy.

"Nancy, what's going on, really? You're acting as if you never wanted Rikki to begin with when we both did, we both fought for custody fiercely and you won and I was never happy about it, so what's the problem now that you want nothing to do with her?" John asked, his tone almost too harsh. Rikki stood with her uncle and Mr. Sullivan a small distance away.

"You want to know what my problem is? My problem is that _your _daughter doesn't respect me. She doesn't _listen_ to me. She acts as if she knows better than me. Rebecca has spent the past six years since our divorce making _me _feel like a villain for _one _mistake. She isn't my daughter at all, she's _yours_. Somehow, despite you never being there, she is _your_ little girl and doesn't give a damn about me, that's what's wrong. So, fine. You _win_. You take your daughter and be happy with her because I have someone now who will give me _normal _children who _will _treat me like a child should treat their parents," Nancy lashed out viciously.

John groaned. It _was_ classic Nancy after all. She had pent up her feelings about Rikki being an independent child and now their daughter felt the backlash, "If that's how you really feel, then fine. We'll leave you be, Nancy. Just don't bother with demanding visitation later. Rikki doesn't need you yanking her around on a chain like she's supposed to be a trained dog on a leash. I know you never wanted to accept it, but Rikki was _never _going to be a normal child with simply good grades and socializing like normal kids do.

"She was born a prodigy, and yes, I know that you blame me for that, even though I really don't see the problem with her being as smart as she is, and I'll even accept the blame. But you need to realize something. It's damned hard to respect a woman who only looks at her daughter as a means of raising her own image and standing socially. It is damned _hard_ for a little girl to feel loved when all her mother cares about is her political career, so no, she probably didn't have respect for you, but that's probably because you tried molding her into a little puppet princess while failing to understand a damned thing about Rebecca. So, yeah, I'm more than happy to take custody of Rikki, but don't come begging to see her later when you regret it, because you just burnt that bridge and there is no repairing it," John's contempt was clear as he finished.

John turned on his heel at this and walked away. He wasn't going to let Nancy make his kid feel like she wasn't good enough and immediately directed Rikki out of the building. He gave Rikki a tight hug and made the call to have the airmen who were supposed to meet him at Dave's house head out. Once that was finished, he looked at his daughter firmly, "How long has your mother been hostile towards you?"

"The past couple of years when it really hit her that I wasn't going to just obey her blindly without asking questions," Rikki admitted softly without looking John in the eye. "Pretty much since grandpa's funeral."

He pulled her into another hug, "I'm sorry kid. Listen, this is _not _your fault. You are _very_ special. You are so damned brilliant and your mom, she just doesn't understand that that brilliance, it can't and shouldn't be hidden. Where I work now, where you're going to live with me, you will _never _have to hide your brains. People will encourage you to learn everything you can. You hear me? Where I work and live, you're gonna be the coolest kid on the block. Your mother has always been terrified of rejection and she is likely rejecting you so that you can't reject her. It's not your fault, you hear me?"

Rikki finally looked at him and smiled, "I know you're just trying to make me feel better, but thanks anyways. Now, you promised to let me in on what you've been doing lately?" She looked hopefully at that.

"Let's get your things from Uncle Dave's first," John stated with a chuckle.

Rikki pouted before deciding it was as good a time as any to catch up on her life with her mother. John ended up hearing every detail about his ex-wife's past four boyfriends, whom apparently all treated Rikki like a little girl who was incapable of thinking for herself. The conversation lasted all the way to Dave's mansion and halfway through seeing Rikki's things being loaded into a box truck. It was interrupted by the sergeant who had been driving them around.

"Excuse me, sir. I just received a call from White House and the President wants you there asap," The sergeant, that John hadn't learnt the name of, stated while standing at parade rest.

John bit back a groan, glanced at his brother, the airmen packing Rikki's things into the box truck and then his daughter, "Right, well, come on then Rikki, let's go talk to the President." The sergeant looked taken back by the decision, but John couldn't just leave his daughter with his brother to drop off later, given he didn't know when he or the others would be back at the hotel and he couldn't leave her with the airmen who were under strict orders to get his daughter's things to Atlantis immediately.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Thursdays are my days off, so I will try to make the updates going forward on them.**

Chapter 2: Necessity

They headed straight for the White House and John was privately relieved that he hadn't had time to change out of his uniform because he would have had to just change back into it. They were stopped at the gates briefly before they were waved through. The president's chief of staff was waiting for them when they got out of the car.

"Col. Sheppard, thank you for arriving on such short notice. This is your daughter, I presume. I trust all the legal matters regarding her custody have been dealt with?" The Chief of Staff asked immediately.

John nodded with a slight smile, "I now have full and sole custody of my daughter."

"Very good, sir. If you will both follow me?" With that they were led through the White House and up to the Oval Office. John figured that Woolsey must have told the president about the custody hearing for the Chief of Staff to know about it. That was definitely one way to guarantee there wouldn't be any hold-ups with Rikki being able to live on Atlantis. It did earn him a funny look from Rikki though.

Once they were in the Oval Office, the president smiled and waved for the secret service agents to shut the doors and that they weren't to be interrupted. President Amelia Wallace was elected two years ago and was someone that John had been on Atlantis for the majority of her political career, but he knew that she was a president that firmly backed the Stargate program, which served them well.

"Col. John Sheppard, I apologize for the short notice, but I had to do some wrangling the past few weeks with all the events of the past month and this did need to be done sooner rather than later. Still, you and your team are rare and exceptional heroes, willing to go well above and beyond the call of duty to protect not just our world, but our galaxy and another. It will be many years before the people of this world know of the massive debt they owe you, but I know that your name, and the names of your team members will go down in history as among the greatest people that humanity as a whole has to offer," President Wallace stated. She smiled at Rikki. "And this must be your daughter, Rebecca. According to Mr. Woolsey you're shaping up to be just as impressive as your father, young lady. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in my shoes one day. That is if you don't go on to fill your father's first."

Rikki smiled brightly, "That's very nice of you to say Madam President, but I am a scientist through and through. My mother is a politician and I don't like that career path for myself and I'm too young to know if I want to go down the military path, but I doubt I will."

"Well, then I suppose your goal is to ultimately replace Dr. McKay. An extremely noteworthy goal in itself," President Wallace stated with an indulgent smile before directing her attention back to John and McKay. "Now, Dr. McKay, I can't give you the Presidential Medal of Freedom because you aren't an American citizen, however, I would like you to know that we will be eternally grateful for the efforts you have made to protect our world, and others, and I believe the Canadian Prime Minister has a few awards he intends on giving you and there were mentions of a knighthood. Col. Sheppard, however, you are not only an American Citizen, but also a member of our armed forces. You have, repeatedly, placed your life at risk for the protection of our world and others as a whole. The entirety of the United State Congress and I agree that your efforts have been long overdue for rewards with regards to both promotions and to medals. Gen. O'Neil, if you would do the honors for Col. Sheppard's promotion?"

"Happily," Gen. O'Neil smirked and stepped forward. He removed the Lieutenant Colonel insignias from John's uniform and handed them over to Gen. Landry. John's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the silver stars in the case that Gen. Landry handed over in return, "Lt. Col. John Patrick Sheppard, on behalf of the United States Congress, I hear-by promote you to the rank Brigadier General. Congratulations, Gen. Sheppard. You're the first person in U.S. history who got to skip a whole rank grade in promotions."

John was stunned as O'Neill finished pinning the stars on, "Thank You, sir."

"Good, now my turn. Gen. John Patrick Sheppard, for immense courage under fire and your bravery and willingness to risk your own wellbeing for the safety of not only the Atlantis Expedition but the Pegasus Galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, and most importantly, Earth, I am humbly honored to present you with the Congressional Medal of Honor, on behalf of not only the U.S. Government, but all the governments of this world," With that, she pinned the medal onto John's uniform and gave him a genuine smile. "Now that that's out of the way, we can get down to business."

John raised an eyebrow at this, "Yes, Ma'am."

She eyed Rikki, "I'm afraid you don't have clearance for this meeting, Dr. Sheppard."

Rikki wasn't paying any attention though because she had spent almost the whole time after speaking the president staring at one particular man. She probably only took in half of what she had heard for his promotion and awarding. John realized that Dr. Jackson, Rikki's personal hero, had been in attendance. John nudged Rikki, "Madam President, my daughter will be relocating with me back to Atlantis, perhaps she can be read into the necessary basic information by Dr. Jackson, since he probably won't be necessary for what I'm guessing will be a military discussion?"

"I'd be happy to, if there's a spare room we can go through the process. Dr. Sheppard, it's a pleasure to meet you," Daniel came forward and gave her a smile and a handshake.

John had to hold back a snort of amusement when his daughter finally broke, "I-um… It's a great… well honor really… your book… I…" She flushed and looked at her father in panic.

"What Rebecca means to say is that she read your book on aliens building the pyramids when she was four and she's been a big fan ever since. Probably your biggest fan, actually," John stated, taking pity on her. "I'm sure she would love your pick your brain on how you figured all that out with only a small fraction of the puzzle pieces."

Jackson looked surprised, "Huh. Well, she's probably part of a very small minority. I thought the SGC pulled my books from circulation after we got the program up and running, Jack?"

"A friend of my bought it as a gift from a used bookstore for her fourth birthday as a gag gift. Rikki was running through books like they were more important than breathing at the time. Your book started a life-long obsession for her. I figured it was fitting that you get to tell her just how right you were," John stated, all too amused by the situation.

Jackson chuckled, "Well, that I can do. I can't say there was ever a day when I met a legitimate fan." Rikki was led out of the room by Jackson who looked like he was more than a little happy to know that _someone _hadn't immediately gone to the crack-pot theory after reading his book, even if it was a then four-year-old.

"Well, Daniel's going to be _insufferable_ for weeks now," Jack joked before the president waved for them all to sit. "All joking aside, apologies for springing the promotion on you, Sheppard. We needed to get it out of the way before we could start officially working on arrangements with Russia and the other governments on allowing military personnel on Atlantis. There needs to be a clear-cut chain of command on Atlantis for the military personnel and that meant we needed a General and since bringing in a General who knows nothing about the Wraith would have been tantamount to suicide, we had no option but to promote you instead."

John nodded, "I'm not about to complain about the promotion, Sir. I was just a little stunned was all."

"Good, you'd be stupid to protest it since Carter could have gotten the promotion too, if she had wanted it. Now, let's get down to business," Landry stated firmly. They did exactly that too. They worked out a specific chain-of-command system for Atlantis when they started accepting military personnel from other countries. Jack also stated that the Jaffa wanted to station two hundred of their elite warriors there as well, in order to ensure that the Wraith wouldn't be attacking Jaffa worlds either.

It was late before they finished. So late, in fact, that dinner had been brought in for them to eat while they worked out all the kinks of what would and wouldn't be allowed for foreign military personnel. There were discussions of integrated AR teams as well. When they did finish, it was almost 10 pm and they had a viable plan for what the conditions for allowing other governments to station military on Atlantis.

Rikki was located with Dr. Jackson a few doors down in a conference room. John had briefly wondered if the archeologist could entertain his daughter for so long but found that Rikki's innate curiosity had won out over any potential boredom when he went to gather her. It also probably helped that Jackson was explaining the social dynamics of the Ancients before they ascended. Rikki looked disappointed when John interrupted their conversation.

"But we were just getting into how the Ancients used a device on Dakara to spread humanity throughout the galaxy. Oh, Dad, did you know we were descended from aliens from another Galaxy? Why didn't you _tell_ me we were hybrid Alteran/humans?" Rikki asked as she stood. John could tell she wasn't angry, just curious.

"Because I didn't know until I joined the Atlantis Expedition and then I couldn't reveal classified information, like how we're part aliens or that nothing the majority of people on Earth think they know about human origins is accurate. Come on, now. It's late and I'm sure Dr. Jackson is tired. There are quite a few meetings we need to attend tomorrow as well. You have your laptop in your duffle bag, right?" John asked as he started guiding her out of the room. Jackson followed behind.

"Yeah. Now that I have all this new information though, I have so many project ideas. Did you know we know of multiple super-heavy, stable metals? I could do so much! I want to try to get my theory on Quantum field energy containment tested, since we have the materials and the means. I mean, we would have to start with something smaller than a star, like I originally suggested in my dissertation, but…" Rikki was interrupted.

"Did you just say quantum field energy containment? You mean a Zero Point Module? That's what your dissertation was on?" McKay stopped her in the hall, having been with them as they were leaving the building.

"Yeah. It was an idea I had, because I figured if we could manage to get to a red supergiant not long before it went supernova, we could stably extract the energy from it but the problem with that is that there would be so much energy that it had to be contained in a large quantity of ZPMs in order to drain the star and you would have to drain the star completely to prevent it from destabilizing when you stopped draining energy from it and going supernova… Why is everyone staring at me?" Rikki asked as she had Col. Carter, Dr. Jackson, McKay, Gen. O'Neill, and even her own father looking at her with stunned expressions. Woolsey looked like he might die of euphoria.

"Use a red supergiant star's energy. God, I feel like an idiot for missing that! It's so damned obvious! Of course, the Ancients would use stars to charge the ZPMs, they would get thousands out of a single red supergiant," McKay stated, clearly annoyed with himself.

"Hey, I missed it too. And so did Zelenka and Lee. It could definitely work though. I'd like to see your calculations on the creation of the containment field, Dr. Sheppard. Jack, you don't need me or McKay in the meetings tomorrow, right? It's all just organizing military forces, that's for you and John to work out anyway," Carter stated dismissively, her eyes alight with excitement.

"Far be it from me to interfere with you scientists and your calculations. At least Gen. Sheppard doesn't need to find anyone to watch his daughter tomorrow," O'Neill stated with a chuckle.

Rikki reluctantly settled down for the night when they returned to the hotel, her mind was firing all over the place. The remainder of the week was pure chaos for John and his daughter. At first, Rikki was working with McKay and Carter in one of the empty conference rooms at Homeworld Security while John was in his meetings with various representatives. However, McKay and Carter soon decided that Rikki's theoretical work was as solid as it could get and that they needed the labs at the SGC. Thus, Rikki and the pair started getting beamed back and forth between the base and D.C. each day. Rikki was loving it and John wasn't going to complain since it was keeping her entertained.

For his part, he was mainly stuck in negotiations with the French, Russian, German, and UK representatives on numbers and how many of their military personnel would be allowed on Atlantis and under what conditions. However, at the end of the week, it was determined that each of the other four countries would be permitted to dispatch two thousand men and women or more and their families to Atlantis. On the civilian side of things, Woolsey informed John that Atlantis, when it returned to the Pegasus Galaxy was being upgraded from an expedition to an Earth Colony. The first official one in modern history.

At the end of the week, there was still a lot to do, but it wasn't for John, McKay, or Teyla to do. They were beamed directly from the Homeworld Security building to Atlantis, with Rikki in tow. Woolsey was left behind to work on the technicalities of the 'upgrade'. John showed Rikki her new rooms, which she was being assigned right next to his because he felt it would be too invasive if he insisted that she share with him, given the dorm-like designs of the city and the fact that she was almost thirteen. Then he walked her through the mechanics of the teleporters and where all the main facilities were.

"These are the gyms. Now, I know it isn't really your thing, but I'm gonna have Teyla train you in basic hand-to-hand combat. It won't do you much good right now, but if you master it before you're an adult, when you start going on field missions, it could mean the difference between life and death," John explained. "And you're going to start jogging with me in the mornings too."

"It's a different way of life here. I get it, Dad. I need better stamina to ensure that I can run and hide if I have to," Rikki responded reasonably. John was actually relieved that she was taking the whole change of rules so well. "I may not like having to fight, but I'll learn."

"Good. Because you have marksmanship training with Colonel Lorne as well. You need to be able to fire a P-90 or a .9 mm in a pinch," John stated firmly.

Rikki wrinkled her nose but didn't protest. After all the standard places, including the lab that Rodney had enthusiastically set up for Rikki as 'his' Prodigy, as he kept referring to her for everything, Rikki was given a quick ATA gene test to see if she would need the retrovirus. Fortunately, she had no issue activating the hand-held life-signs detector. The final part of the tour had John hesitant, but he needed to get it out of the way for a multitude of reasons.

He brought Rikki down to the containment cells, where Todd paced, per usual. There was a pile of books on the floor along with a simple mat with a blanket and pillow for Todd to sleep on. As soon as they were in range, Todd spoke, "I was beginning to think you had forgotten me, Sheppard. It has been a full week since you last visited."

"There were some things I needed to do while we were here on Earth. Among them, Todd, this is my daughter, Dr. Rebecca Sheppard," John stated, introducing Todd to Rikki. "Rikki, this is the Wraith that I told you we had in custody, Todd."

"The one you named after one of the guys Mom cheated on you with," Rikki responded, providing a little too much information. "Hi, Todd."

Todd eyed her with confusion, "I was under the impression that Doctor was a title given to your people when they were fully educated and supposed experts in a specific field. Yet, you present me with an adolescent and call her doctor and claim she is your daughter for all that you never mentioned having offspring before now."

"First off, Rikki's the only kid I have. And Rikki's kind of the exception, not the rule. Not all humans learn at the same rate as others do. Rikki… she's what we call a prodigy, a genius. She learns thing extremely quickly and is capable of understanding a lot more because of her mental capacity as well," John explained. "Rikki has a PhD in Theoretical Physics, though for us, it's just physics."

"I see. You still have not explained how you have never come to inform me that you had a child," Todd stated.

"I don't recall us ever having a conversation about our families, Todd. Besides, I don't tend to offer up personal information to someone who is a questionable ally at the best of times. I just wanted Rikki to get a good idea of what the Wraith looked like before the Marines went filling her head with non-sense about your kind. Of course, Rikki, that isn't to say all Wraith are like Todd, they're not. As far as Wraith go, Todd's a pretty damned decent guy. Now, I've shown you everything I can for the moment, why don't you get McKay to give you an in-depth tour of your lab before dinner. I need to have a private conversation with Todd," John redirected his attention from Todd to his daughter temporarily.

Rikki knew that her father wasn't trying to give her the brush off. He had spent most of the day showing her around the city. So, whatever it was he needed to talk with Todd about, she probably didn't want to know, "Okay. I'll see you at dinner." She stated before heading back to the transporters.

"Your child is exceptionally obedient. A wraith adolescent would spend several hours arguing with their progenitor before obeying an instruction such as the one you gave her," Todd stated, his expression thoughtful.

"That's probably because wraith parents don't go about instilling a sense of trust and confidence in their children or each other. My daughter knows that I won't ask her to do something without reason and she respects my authority over her. I didn't hide her from you or you from her. My daughter and I believe that open communication between parent and child is a healthy way of forming a familial relationship. Where there is trust and respect, there is obedience," John stated, he was glossing a lot of it over, but he didn't need to explain that his daughter was just so happy to be living with him now that he doubted she would be rebelling for a while.

"Now, there are a few things that you need to be filled in on. We are going to be getting a lot more people on Atlantis very soon. Some of these people are going to be very curious about you, rude even. They also don't belong to my government, so there is a limit of what I can do to prevent them from reporting about you back to their governments. So, you need to tone down the whole hostility toward people who aren't me that are visiting you thing that you do. There are a lot of governments that want you for experimentation and don't care that you are a sentient being because you're an alien from a hostile species and that's all they think matters," John stated.

"Why are you allowing them on Atlantis if you feel they will be a problem," Todd asked, annoyed that he might have to play nice with anyone other than John Sheppard and perhaps his daughter, Dr. McKay, and maybe Teyla and Dr. Keller. He suddenly realized he was tolerating more humans than he anticipated he would.

"Because they're military, and we need more military forces to help in our fight against the Wraith, and they're willing to obey my orders. Simple as that," John stated.

Todd huffed, "Very well. Dr. Keller is still working on the retrovirus, I trust?"

"Yes, she's very close. Jennifer says it should be a month tops before they can begin the treatment. She wants to do it progressively over a full day, so that if there are any problems, we can correct it more easily," John explained in a straightforward manner.

He would never openly admit it, but he liked Todd, in spite of himself. He even thought that the two could become genuine friends, if the Wraith could alter his specific diet. There were a lot of things that John was willing to overlook in friends. Being green, no big deal. Blunt personality, Rodney was much more obnoxious about it than Todd. Todd had even saved his life more than a few times. It was just the whole consuming humans bit that was John's sticking point with the guy.

Todd nodded his acceptance of this, "There is more you wish to say to me." John always found Todd's ability to read him so well when the other Wraith couldn't read him unnerving, too. He figured it had to do with a connection created when Todd had given John 'the gift of life' willingly, because it was the right thing to do and not because Todd had an ulterior motive, given that he had already escaped the Genii by that point.

"Listen… I've put up with a lot of your shenanigans, all the backstabbing, and double-crossing, we've both had our fair share of that. I just want to make something perfectly clear to you. If any stunt you pull in the future puts my little girl in danger, if so much as a single hair on her head is harmed because of some bullshit that you pull, there is nothing in this universe that will stop me from destroying you and yours, not even my death because I will ascend just to finish you off if I have to," John stated, his tone low and threatening as it could get. He knew he was revealing his greatest weakness, but he also knew that Todd would know better than to exploit it if he ever hoped to maintain his alliance with them and John really did believe that Todd _wanted _this alliance.

"You believe I would be willing to harm your child to gain some advantage over you and risk…" Todd didn't finish, though his voice held something that John had never heard before in a wraith and he couldn't quite place it. Todd couldn't genuinely articulate exactly they _would _be risking. "There are few reasons you have for trusting me, I know that. However, I would not harm an adolescent of an ally, even for my own gain. There are some boundaries not even a Wraith will willing cross, John Sheppard."

John wondered what Todd really _wasn't _willing to risk but didn't ask. There was a dynamic to their relationship that John wasn't willing to vocalize any more than Todd was. The two of them had walked along a very fine line together for a while. Each staying on their side, but close enough that either could very well break the equilibrium by crossing over it. Ronon didn't understand how or why John made frequent trips down to talk with Todd, nearly daily, for any reason or even why they were keeping Todd alive. McKay and Woolsey always assumed it was for information on the Wraith. Teyla, Carson, and Keller… well those three might have picked up on some aspect of the odd dynamic between the two, but they never vocalized it either.

"Good. Nice to know we're on the same page for once. How are the pigs suiting you?" John changed the subject now that the important matter was settled.

"They are not nearly as sustaining as humans would be. However, I believe they possess enough physiological similarities to humans that they will keep me from starving until Dr. Keller can complete the retrovirus," Todd stated bluntly as ever.

"Good. It's good to hear that you aren't starving. I noticed that your book pile has grown. What've you been reading?" John asked. This was the part that others didn't understand, an almost instinctive craving John had to get to know Todd better. He didn't know why he had it, but he doubted it was ever going to go away. Not even if Todd _did _do something to harm Rikki. He might kill Todd, but he would never stop wanting to _know _Todd and he would miss him if he did have to kill him.

"The Histories of the Earth hero known as Harry Potter. I must admit though, if there are humans on Earth capable of such damaging combative strategies and abilities, why do you not employ them in fighting the Wraith? Are they so hidden by their government that they can't or won't serve to protect all of your kind?" Todd stated, willing to get into what he figured was political discussion.

John burst into laughter, to Todd's annoyance. It took him a few minutes to recover enough to respond, "Harry Potter isn't real, Todd. Witches and wizards, it's what we call fiction. We don't have a small population of powerful, magic wielding people running around with wands. Harry Potter is a young adult series, written for pure entertainment. Though, you're right about one thing, if we did have witches and wizards like that, we could do a _lot _of damage to the Wraith before the Wraith figured out what was going on."

Todd's expression cleared once John explained, "I see. That must have been some sort of practical joke by the Marine who brought me the books. I requested histories on your planet's greatest conquests and battles."

John broke into a wide grin and snorted in amusement, "Ah, yeah, they probably didn't think it would be wise to share our military tactics. Though, I suppose I could scrounge up a few books on the Roman or Mongolian empires. Their military tactics are so out of date that they won't reveal anything to you tactically."

Todd broke into a smile of his own, "There is more to such information than you realize, but I was mainly just looking for some entertainment to pass the time. I would not be opposed to reading the rest of these fictional books on Harry Potter."

"Ah, yeah, so would the rest of us. Unfortunately, the last book isn't due out until next year. If you like those books, however, I can see if Rikki's willing to lend you some of her Tamora Pierce books. She's a great fictional author, has a massive collection of books in two story universes. I've even read and enjoyed them," John stated with a chuckle.

Todd nodded in agreement, "And the books on the Roman and Mongolian Empires. It appears as if I will be here for some time longer."

John smiled, "Sure thing." With that he gave a wave and left. John wasn't sure he would ever fully understand their interactions, but they were never boring.

With the needed conversation with Todd finished, John went to locate his daughter. As he had directed her to, she was getting a tour of the lab that McKay had ordered set up for the girl. Rikki had spent all of ten minutes listening to McKay's lecture on the equipment before showing him that she knew how to operate all the Earth based equipment. John smirked as his thirteen-year-old schooled McKay on the tech before interrupting.

"Hey, Pipsqueak. You want to go for a ride in a jumper before dinner?" John asked.

Rikki looked torn between the laptop that was already set up and him but finally shook her head, "Dr. McKay and I were going to work on the schematics for the rigs to hold the ZPMs for charging them."

"Tomorrow then. You're going to have to learn how to fly one eventually anyways, so I want you to get comfortable with being in them," John stated.

Rikki smiled and nodded, "Of course. I can't wait! Wait, do I have to wait until I'm sixteen to fly a puddle jumper?"

John chuckled, "Well, we'll do a few lessons now and see how you handle it. Technically speaking we don't have an age minimum for flying the Jumpers, but we may need to determine one now that we're going to have a bunch of ATA positive kids on Atlantis. Rodney, your sister and her family are confirmed to join us, right?"

"Yes, Caleb's agreed to be one of Atlantis's High School English teachers. They should be arriving in a few days. Their stuff is being sent tomorrow. They're just waiting on the sale of the house, but they close the day after tomorrow," Rodney confirmed.

John smiled, "Great. Good for you. I'm sure it will be fun for you to have family on Atlantis."

"Not as fun as it will be for you. You now have a teenaged daughter in a city where there is about to be an influx of military and non-military families that are from all over the world, with teenagers of their own," McKay smirked. "All those teenaged boys, or girls, depends on her preference."

"Nah, I don't need to worry about that. Once Todd has taken the retrovirus, I'm gonna make him Rikki's guard dog," John joked.

McKay obviously didn't get it, "You're going to have Todd follow your daughter around and scare off teenaged boys? I doubt he's gonna go for that one. Never mind the risks of what he could do in terms of a hostage situation."

John rolled his eyes, "It was a joke, Rodney. If I let Todd follow Rikki around like that, I'm pretty sure that Ronon would kill me on principle alone. Or more likely, kill Todd. Besides, he will have a long road to earning enough trust that I allow him into a room with my daughter without at least Ronon and a dozen Marines present and fully armed."

"Good, I was a bit concerned there for a moment," McKay stated with a sigh of relief.

"Todd didn't really strike me as very scary when you introduced him to me," Rikki stated bluntly as she clicked and typed away at the computer, already diving into her task.

"That's because you haven't seen him when he's in a fight," John stated to his daughter slightly annoyed.

"And how many times that he's been fighting, has he been fighting against you directly?" Rikki asked still not lift her eyes from the computer.

Both John and McKay hesitated for a moment, "Well, he… He took over the Daedalus." Her father finally responded.

"Were you on it?" Rikki asked.

She had a hypothesis about Todd, the Wraith that seemed to defy the standards that everyone held all other Wraith to, based on the information her father had shared so far. She just had to test it, rigorously. After all, for a man who claimed he had no intentions of leaving his daughter alone with the Wraith, he had been relatively fast about introducing Rikki to Todd. Of course, she was curious about Todd and her father knew that, but he didn't realize it was because _he _had made a point of telling her that they were currently holding a Wraith that was a sometimes ally.

John shifted uncomfortably before responding to her question, "Well… no… I was on Atlantis. Woolsey was on the Daedalus at the time and felt it would be unwise to have the top two senior personnel in such a precarious position..."

"Why did he take over the Daedalus?" Rikki pressed before her father could deflect.

"Um… well that is…" John shifted even more uncomfortably, something Rikki observed out of the corner of her eye with some amusement. Finally, he did answer though. "McKay and Dr. Jackson got kidnapped by a rouge group of Asgardians known as the Vanir who made them turn on a device created by an Ancient named Janus… that blew up Wraith ships when they went into hyperspace… and Todd happened to be on the Daedalus at the time to help us test out our retrovirus… and watched two of his hive ships blow up… and thought we had lured him there to watch the results of activating the device…"

Rikki finally looked at her father in a brief glance, "And he was meeting with Woolsey on the Daedalus to test out a retrovirus that was meant to remove his feeding hand and thus remove his need to feed on humans? What exactly was the cost/benefit ratio expected for that exactly? I'm assuming he didn't test it out after watching a few of his hive ships being blown up." Rikki was displaying less sympathy than John would have expected of his daughter.

"No, actually, he did. He stole Jennifer's work and tested it on an entire Hive, then he had the nerve to show up at our doorstep and ask for help when it proved to be less than perfect. Nearly got us killed in the process, too," McKay stated, smug that he thought Rikki couldn't defend that. In all honesty, McKay knew that if the Attero device hadn't been activated, Todd never would have taken over the Daedalus and taken such drastic measures.

Rikki's head snapped in his direction and then snapped back sharply to look at her father with wide eyes, "You're telling me, that after he thought you had committed a massive act of betrayal, he still _took _the retrovirus? What was the estimated cost/benefit ratio?" She asked again for a second time.

John shrugged, "Keller said that they might lose some of their longevity and strength, but they wouldn't be reliant on feeding on humans, which they were and still are in a massive civil war over food resources, aka humans. I mean, he was looking at a massive strategic advantage over the other Wraith, because he could just sit back and watch them fight and weaken each other while he had his drones farming and then when the rest were significantly reduced in numbers, he would have been able to wipe them out."

"And this was to Todd's advantage how? From what you told me, the Wraith have a massive ratio difference between males and females and rely on Queens heavily to reproduce and govern them. What happens when Todd's wiped out all the rival Queens, which I'm guessing is _all _the Queens who don't kneel to him? How many would be left? What is the extinction threshold for the Wraith anyways? I'm imagining they can go pretty low because the regenerative properties would help with negative gene mutations, but still, they drop below a certain number and extinction is inevitable," Rikki pointed out. "So, what's the real cost/benefit ratio, not to Todd the Commander, but to Todd the individual?"

John looked at his daughter stunned. He knew Rikki was right, of course. Somehow, in all of their interactions, John had never really considered what Todd's end game really was. The whole time, he had just assumed it was to rule the Wraith, but if that was the case, he would have been doing more about playing the long game. He certainly wouldn't have given John heads up after heads up about the activities of other Wraith hives and even his own rouge ones. Sure, a lot of the time it served to his advantage. Others, though, it didn't. After all, there were times when his freedom was called into question and Todd had taken John's word over what would seem logical, especially given the shaky ground they stood on with each other. Never mind the fact that his willingness to cooperate with humans had caused more than a few of his hives to go rouge in the first place.

John didn't end up answering the question, he just turned and headed directly back to where the containment cells were. Rikki smirked and shook her head before returning to graphically designing the rig for energy extraction. McKay, however, eyed her with suspicion, "What was that about? Why are you defending a Wraith?"

"I wasn't defending him. I was merely questioning your assumptions _about _him. Trust is based on knowledge. For some reason, whether he wants to admit to it or not, Dad _trusts _Todd. Or at least I think he does and I think Todd must trust Dad too. I want to know _why,_" Rikki answered. "One thing no one can deny about me is my curiosity."

"John doesn't trust Todd. He's threatened to shoot him hundreds of times," McKay stated. "And Todd's betrayed us before, and John knows that. Todd is wily and cunning and Wraith. There's no way John would trust him or Todd trust John."

"Really? Tell me, what was my father's first interaction with Todd? What is that essential ground-work for this ever so shaky alliance between Todd and my dad?" Rikki stopped working and gave McKay her undivided attention. She didn't call it an alliance between Todd and Atlantis, because she didn't think it _was _an alliance between Todd and Atlantis.

McKay eyed her with suspicion before answering, "Your father got kidnapped by a rouge group of Genii who used Todd to torture him as a way to get us to hand over the current Genii leader, who we have a tentative alliance with. The two of them realized their odds of escaping were much higher if they worked together, so they did." Rikki could tell that he was abbreviating the story drastically.

"How did the Genii use Todd to torture my father?" Rikki questioned immediately.

"They had Todd feed on him, sapping a little bit of his life at a time," Rikki could tell that he was getting annoyed now.

Rikki nodded slowly, "And how did my dad recover from this? Is there some antidote to the draining that the Wraith do in the Ancient archives?"

McKay turned suddenly uncomfortable, "No. There isn't. Todd gave John his life… force, I guess for the lack of a better word, back. In exchange, John made us leave Todd on a random world where he would be able to leave when he woke."

"So, my dad and Todd both actively placed their lives in the hands of each other and you don't think that would have, on an instinctive level, created an emotional groundwork, at the very least, for trust? I'm betting that wasn't even the only time that my dad has trusted Todd not only with his life, but with your life and the lives of his team members as well. Oh, look at the time, we should be going to dinner," Rikki changed the topic quickly. She didn't want McKay to think about it too deeply, not like she already was.

As soon as John reached the containment cell, he waved the guards away, ordering them to stand near the transporter. He told them that he'd call for them when he was done talking with the prisoner.

Todd eyed him with confusion and not a little suspicion, "I see you've returned without the books. Perhaps your daughter was reluctant to loan her possessions to… one such as myself?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I completely forgot to ask her about the books. What's your endgame?" John dismissed the question Todd asked quickly and asked his own in a half-agitated manner.

"My… endgame? I am not certain I understand your question, John Sheppard," Todd began pacing once more. His confusion also doubled, as John seemed far more worked up than earlier.

"What is your endgame? Your ultimate goal? Why do you keep coming back to us, helping us, informing us of the movements of the other Wraith? Why do _you_ want the Retrovirus? Why did you steal Jennifer's original version and test it immediately on yourself and your hive? What's the endgame?" John listed the questions with all being, what he would assume, would be similar answers if not the same, growing even more agitated as he asks them.

Todd froze, "I do not know how I should answer those questions." Todd knew, deep down, in a part of himself that he refused to acknowledge, what the answer to _all _the questions were, but he was too deep within his own denial, his own rejection of _that _to give it as an answer. At least for now, as there was no way that John Sheppard would accept it as truth even if Todd was bound permanently to the situation due to his Wraith DNA.

"How about the truth?" John practically snapped.

Todd's eyes narrowed and he decided on the second best, reasons that he believed that John would accept and were, on some level true, "My ultimate goal is… to change the course for the Wraith as a whole. To turn my kind in a new direction. We keep our numbers small out of necessity. If we didn't rely on humans as a food source, we would thrive as we never have before. There are many worlds out there, many where we would be allowed to thrive without coming into conflict with our own kind or others. The Wraith already have a social structure that would allow for us to live comfortably if only we weren't reliant on humans for our only sustenance."

John relaxed visibly at this, "You want to save your species from extinction?"

Todd nodded slowly, "This civil war… it severely depletes our already insubstantial numbers. Hundreds of thousands may have been sufficient numbers to defeat a few thousand of the Ancestors, but not so many that we can risk our numbers so recklessly. The Queens who fight so viciously for feeding grounds fail to realize they are placing the survival of the species as a whole at serious risk. I have come to realize… through our own interactions, that humans and Wraith don't necessarily need to come into constant conflict. This is my… endgame. To redirect my species in order to ensure their survival."

John seemed to relax fully at this, "Okay. See, now we're getting somewhere. That's a goal I can get behind. It's not like we want to go committing genocide on our part. Earth's already had its fair share of that and from what I've learnt, the ones committing it _never _come out looking rosy. See, communication is important, Todd. If you had just told me all this sooner, we could have pushed for more people researching the retrovirus. As it is, it should be good to go in a few weeks. Keller says she has a good idea of what she thinks went wrong last time and stage one is to test it… slowly this time. The original one was supposed to be administered in stages over a day, but you didn't do that, which is part of why it didn't go so well the last time."

Todd nodded, relieved that John accepted that response so easily. He wasn't certain how to tell him that it was unlikely that the Queens would heed the wisdom of this move and thus the best odds of this idea working was if interbreeding were possible and for the adolescents of his species to be converted to the cause. That was something that Todd wasn't certain of, but was willing to test, if it was personally not possible for himself, then with the help of others. If not, he would happily see his kind die out before destroying their souls any further or allow them to remain a threat to John.

"Might I ask what brought these demanding questions on so suddenly? You've never expressed a desire to know what my ultimate goals were before," Todd stated, tentatively and a bit hopeful.

John shrugged, "My daughter may have pointed out that I may not have been viewing our… alliance from the correct angle. She tends to find the flaws in other people's logic a lot, so that's not really surprising. She was right too."

"How so?" Todd asked, now genuinely curious. He still was uncertain of why Sheppard had introduced them, and he wanted to figure that out as well.

"Well, I was thinking your goal was to wipe out all your enemies and take over the remaining Wraith and that was it. Rikki pointed out that every population has a critical threshold for survival and while yours might be lower than others, it was still likely very present," John stated, a little uncomfortably.

Todd immediately burst into laughter, "Ruling the Wraith on a whole would be a tedious and dangerous task. Not only would every Queen try to undermine me at every turn, my kind are far too volatile to be governed by a single entity. It would be pure madness to wish to rule them all. No, I would sooner see my species wiped out than to try to govern them all myself."

John smiled at this, more than a little relieved that Todd wasn't the galactic domination type after all. John gave Todd a final nod, "Right, well I can imagine how obnoxious such a task might be. I'll leave you be now."

"John Sheppard," Todd called as John moved to leave the area. John turned to look at him in questioning. "Do not forget the books next time."

John laughed and gave a nod before retreating, something in his chest eased slightly, though he didn't realize it just yet. For Todd's part, he barely maintained his grace as he sat back down, his legs going weak with relief and for the first time, perhaps the slightest amount of hope. Though, hope for what, Todd still refused to acknowledge as the possibility was still too microscopic to admit it, or at least, so he believed.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 3: Full-Charge

One of the first things that Rikki experienced while on Atlantis was a full physical given by Dr. Keller. Then, Dr. Beckett took a DNA sample for his research on the similarities and differences between Ancients and Humans. Rikki didn't think much of it. The whole point of Atlantis was scientific research and fighting the Wraith back in the Pegasus Galaxy. Once her medical file was up to date, including vaccinations for diseases in the Pegasus Galaxy, Rikki spent the remainder of the week working with McKay and Carter.

At one point, McKay asked Rikki who had done the checks for her calculations. Her response of her 19-year-old friend, Dr. Thomas Richards, who had also just defended his dissertation in Mechanical Engineering had McKay stating that Zelenka needed an assistant too. Carter had chuckled and said that she would see to getting the kid looked into, if Rikki provided contact information. Rikki easily did so, but she knew that while her friend would love to join the expedition, it might take a while for him to clear the security checks because he had had a few bad foster homes growing up.

By the end of the week, they had designed rigs for the ZPMs and worked out the calculations to input into the Asgard core for it to create new ZPMs to be charged. The core was, thankfully, extremely user friendly, so all they had to do was input the data and the core would use the presented materials to create the object and do the rest. It significantly reduced manufacturing costs because the core could mass produce large quantities almost instantly.

Rikki sat back and watched as Col. Carter input the calculations, checking to make sure she put everything in properly. Once it was in place, Carter instructed the core to make a single ZPM. When it materialized exactly as they expected everyone smiled. McKay scanned it with an Atlantean scanner and gave a nod, "It reads exactly as any standard depleted ZPM does."

Sam gave a nod and then instructed the core to make increasingly larger batches. When each group came out exactly as expected, they got packed away into crates for transportation. It took two days for them to make all 6000 ZPMs that they wanted to be created. The idea was, they estimated it would take around 2000 ZPMs to deplete the preselected star, so they tripled that number to ensure that they wouldn't run out and having spares was always a good idea.

Once the ZPMs were created, Rikki and McKay worked together to input the designs for the charging rigs. They planned on making twenty-five, each capable of holding two hundred ZPMs. That process took another two days, as they had to create the massive rigs and then have them beamed from the Core room of the Odyssey to the X-302 launch bay. Once everything was completed a small battle ensued.

"Of course, Rikki needs to be there. There are terabytes of data that need to be analyzed by the rigs and we need to monitor things intently. There needs to be at least six qualified scientists. Since Rikki's friend, Dr. Richards hasn't been given the necessary security clearance, that means its Sam, Zelenka, Lee, Kusanagi, Rikki, and me. Those are the people I trust to be confident we won't go BOOM! We need Rikki for this mission," McKay snapped at John.

"You see, it's the potential to go BOOM! that has me concerned. I mean, this does have the potential to go belly-up and Rikki is my only kid and she's only thirteen," John pointed out harshly.

"It will be perfectly safe, so long as she's with us! Rikki is necessary to our success. We wouldn't even be doing this if it weren't for her. We need her. Don't go overprotective on your kid, just because you can. It will be fine, you can just kick back, relax, do your General paperwork or whatever and next week, we'll come back with a bunch of fully charged ZPMs that you can use to decimate the Wraith and any other enemies that come our way," McKay tried reasoning with John.

John eyed McKay for a moment before responding, "If it's perfectly safe, I can come too. I want to see a star die and most of these ZPMs are going to Atlantis, so I should oversee it anyways."

"John, you're going to be bored out of your mind. You're just going to get under foot and pester us all until we lose our minds," McKay tried to reassure him. "It will be fine. Nothing is going to go wrong."

John gave him a raised eyebrow and McKay sighed, "Fine, be bored. Spend the whole week watching a dying star die a little faster than usual." He snapped.

"Now was that so hard?" John asked with a smirk.

"Now I want the star to explode," Rodney responded with a glare.

"No, you don't. You like yourself too much, even if you do wish I was dead," John chuckled.

Rodney glared harder but didn't protest any further. Woolsey and Rikki, who had been watching the whole thing just shook their heads at John's antics. John grabbed his duffle bag and McKay called for Carter to have them all beamed up. Carter eyed John before shrugging. She didn't really have the authority to tell him 'no' anymore given that he out ranked her and the people who did, weren't likely to be inclined to tell him 'no'.

John grumbled a bit as the Odyssey jumped into hyper space and all six scientists, his daughter included, spent the next three hours while they were on the way to the red supergiant that had been selected checking over the rigs and ensuring that every ZPM was firmly latched into position. As soon as they reached the star, John trailed behind them as they went into the lab that had been designated their operations center.

All six were focused intently at the monitors and the windows out towards the sun as they began launching the rigs. They made a point of keeping all but the starting rig at a good distance. The first rig, designated Rig-1, was moved in much closer and everyone was triple checking the read-outs before they initialized the rig. Each rig was fitted with small sub-light engines to make things move faster and to keep them from being pulled into the star via gravity.

"Alright, the red supergiant's energy is reading at exactly what we anticipated. We are a go," Carter stated, glancing over to McKay and Rikki.

Rikki nodded as she hit a few keys, "Initializing in three… two… one… Rig-1 beginning the drain." They all watched with bated breath as a fine, thin stream of the star broke from the surface of the star and went directly to the rig.

Rikki eyed her monitor intently while McKay monitored his just as intently, "The draining stream has reached Rig-1 and is holding steady."

Carter was just as tense as she read out her monitor, "The star's surface tension is maintaining stability."

"Rig-1, ZPM 0001 at 0.2% capacity. It's charging!" Rikki stated with an excited shout at the end. The others all relaxed at that point.

"Thank God. Alright, we will maintain rotating shifts now. Three people on, three people off at a time. Bill, you, Dr. Kusanagi, and Radek can take the first rest period. Rikki, McKay and I will hold down the fort. This first rig is the critical one. After the first change over, as long as everything remains stable, we shouldn't have any problems," Carter stated.

John glanced through the heavily tinted window at the rigs all lined up at a distance, with a tiny speck getting hit with a tiny string of star plasma and sighed, "Is that it? Really? That's all there was to it?"

"Yes, that's all, John. I told you, it's going to be an intensely boring week for you," McKay stated without taking his eye off the monitor.

"ZMP 0001 just hit three percent," Rikki stated two minutes later. The other scientists stuck around for fifteen more minutes, until the first ZPM hit fifteen percent and McKay and Carter agreed they could increase the speed of the drain slightly.

Two hours and fifty-nine ZPMs later, John was fairly certain he was mastering the Tetris game on his tablet and decided to take a break, "Hey, anyone hungry?"

"Oh, I'll have a Rueben. The mess hall on the Odyssey does a mean one," Carter stated instantly.

"I'll take two," McKay added.

"I'll take a turkey wrap, Dad. You know what I like on it," Rikki finished off.

"So, that's a yes," John stated to no one and left to retrieve the food for them as well as his own.

McKay complained that John had taken too long without taking his eyes off his screen. Shortly after, Rikki announced the sixtieth ZPM was charged and they were on ZPM sixty-one. John grumbled about a lack of appreciation before settling down and deciding to do some real work of his own.

At hour six of the mission, Col. Davidson came into the room, "General O'Neill would like an update, sir." He addressed John, who glanced up from the paperwork that he was finally catching up on.

"Huh? Oh, I think they're on ZPM like one hundred and twenty or something," John stated casually.

"It's one hundred and forty-six, sir. We have fifty-four left for this rig. We decided that we didn't want the rigs in proximity to the star for longer than twelve hours apiece, so we limited them to two hundred ZPMs per rig," Carter corrected.

"Right, there you are Colonel, one hundred and forty-six ZPMs charged, one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-four to go," John stated with amusement in his voice.

Col. Davidson nodded, "Yes, sir. Have any problems been noted or arisen?"

"No, everything's peachy. I think we may actually pull this off without any issues," McKay stated happily.

"Don't say that, you'll jinx it," John complained.

"Sir, we are about to have literally _thousands _of ZPMs. There aren't any problems, and it isn't as if there is anyone that can contend with us right now, anyways. I doubt there will be any problems," Carter stated soothingly.

"That's usually when things go wrong," John pointed out with a huff.

"They don't always have to. In this case, I think we should be fine," Carter stated more firmly, her tone a little indulgent.

John settled down and went back to his reports. Another two hours later, tension had reached a peak as McKay moved Rig-2 into position and Rikki continuously read out the percentage of the last ZPM on Rig-1.

"ZPM 0200 at 99.99%, switching… in three… two… one… now," Rikki stated as she hit a button.

"Rig-2… has caught the stream. It's holding steady in the draw…" McKay stated slowly.

"Switching to the read-out for ZPM charging on Rig-2… ZPM 0201 is charging and at .5 percent. Transfer a success," Rikki stated, smiling widely.

McKay sighed in relief, "And everything is holding steady. Sam, what's the star mass looking like?"

"We're down to 92% of the star, looks like we will be getting a bit more than just the 2000 ZPMs we intended, good thing we made a few extra," Sam stated with a snort of amusement.

"How many extras did you make? How much extra are we getting?" John asked his curiosity peaked. He did the math in his head even as his daughter spoke.

"We made 6000 ZPMs and fifteen rigs. Each rig holds 200 ZPMs, and they were all fully loaded before we left Earth. We have all fifteen out right now, as we didn't want to take any risks. That means we have 3000 ZPMs ready for charging, minus the 200 that we just finished charging. If we hold steady at the current rate, then…" Rikki was interrupted before she could finish.

"We get roughly 400 more than we planned. Well, no complaints on that," John stated, finishing for his daughter. "That's a lot of fire power, compared to what we've been working with up until now."

McKay snorted incredulously, "That is the biggest understatement of the millennia. The maximum number of ZPMs we have _ever _had at a single point was three, briefly, right after the replicators invaded Atlantis and we took them out, getting their three. We have barely been keeping ourselves from drowning up until now. It's more like going from barely being able to crawl to being capable of teleportation at will!"

Rikki enjoyed the man's antics, and she figured that her dad did as well. Thankfully, she had to watch the screen in front of her and so her smile was hidden from everyone. John chuckled a bit out loud though, "Alright, I'll give you that one Rodney. By the looks of it, everything is running well?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Perfectly. Like I told you before, this is a very boring mission. We _scientists _can't take our eyes off the screens because we have to watch for even minor fluctuations and correct for them, but it isn't very entertaining for someone who was looking for a bit of excitement," McKay stated a little haughtily.

"Dr. McKay, you do realize that my dad has Doctorates in Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysics, right? He got his doctorates before he even turned eighteen and was legally old enough to join the Air Force. He just wanted to fly fast planes though," Rikki stated bluntly to the man who clearly underestimated her father.

"Wait, seriously?!" McKay squawked as he actually turned away from his screen for a second, to stare at John.

"Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to look away from the screens, in case you miss something! Rikki, why'd you have to go and tell him? Now McKay's gonna be annoying about it," John stated with a whine.

McKay's head snapped back to the screen at the reminder and Carter chuckled, "Really, Rodney, you thought they were just going to let anyone who was as young as Gen Sheppard just become a General? He's also got a Masters in World History." Carter added.

"Now, you aren't playing fair! My dad wouldn't let me leave college until I was 18! What was I supposed to do? Flunk all my courses repeatedly? That would have gotten me disowned and killed my shot at an officer position in the Air Force," John shot back, annoyed that the cat was out of the bag.

"Wait, that means that you've understood what I've been saying a lot more than I realized," McKay whined now.

"I did tell you that I took and passed the test for Mensa, Rodney. And there was the time when you blew up a solar system and I assisted you remember? I may not be an expert in Ancient Technology, like you and Sam, but I haven't exactly struggled with the whole understanding-you-thing," John responded with annoyance now. "It's not my fault you were too oblivious to pick up on it."

Rikki was giggling now, "Dad only took the Mensa test because some jackass said that seven-year-old girls don't belong at Stanford and that he wouldn't let me take the damned test without my parent present. Dad offered to take it with me, and the guy reluctantly agreed to that. We showed him though." Her laugh was a little dark.

John chuckled, his mood improving at the reminder at that incident, "We broke both their test and their egos, and then we refused to join, because if you're going to arrogant asses, we don't want to join your club."

Rikki laughed as well. McKay sighed, "So, that's the story behind you taking the test? If you didn't want to join, why take it, Rikki?" Rikki had broken down barriers with most people, because she was so young that people felt comfortable about not addressing her so formally.

"Well, I wanted to join at first, because I wanted to be around other smart people, like myself, but the bigotry of that chapter threw any desire to be among them right out the window. I was a little kid, I wanted to be accepted _somewhere _and that asshole made it clear that he felt that Mensa should be a boys only club and was only making an exception for me because he wanted Dad to join," Rikki wrinkled her nose at the idea.

"Stuck up idiots. You should have gone to MIT. We never put up with that kind of bigotry in our Mensa chapter. You can join on Atlantis, if you'd like. We have a large chapter, with plenty of interactive activities," McKay looked like he was truly affronted by the idea of rejecting Rikki because of her gender or age.

"Thanks, but I think that ship has long sailed. It will be nice to just be in a community of open-minded scientists, but I've decided I don't like the elitist nature of Mensa," Rikki stated with a smile. "It's too… isolating, I think."

"Alright, well, I'm the chapter head, so, if you ever change your mind, just let me know and we will get you in, right away," McKay offered before dropping the topic. John thought it was very considerate of Rodney, the way that he treated Rikki like she was deserving of encouragement. He then realized that Rodney very well probably stood in Rikki's shoes at one point, if he hadn't been quite as advanced in his education as Rikki was at her age.

Just before the shift switch over, Col. Davidson came in for another update. He nodded when he was told that they were halfway through filling the ZPMs on Rig-2 and Rig-1 would be docking in the X-302 launch bay in fifteen minutes. John looked out the tinted window at the sun and smiled, "You can barely tell that the sun's being drained."

"Yes, well we are only down to 87% of the original mass, so it's not really visible yet. Tomorrow, it will become much more noticeable," Carter smiled as she monitored the Sun.

"And yet, from Earth, they won't see this star blinking out for another five thousand years. It's amazing how far we've come in such a short amount of time," John sighed with wonder.

"Don't go getting sentimental on us, Dad. If you wanted to stargaze, you should have gone into Astronomy and not become an Air Force pilot," Rikki responded blandly. Her father could get sentimental about the oddest things at times.

"Ouch, your daughter is cold, sir," Carter stated with an amused chuckle.

"Nah, she just got sick of me dragging her out to stargaze on frigid nights a long time ago," John stated with amusement before breaking away from the window as the other three scientists returned to relieve them of duty.

Rikki was being replaced by Kusanagi, and spent a few minutes reminding the woman exactly how to perform the rig transfers. Dr. Bill Lee replaced Carter, who just gave him her seat with a brief, "Be prepared for a very boring shift. We have had only a couple of solar flares and they haven't really interfered with the process. I think draining the star has actually _reduced _the solar activity."

McKay spent the longest amount of time explaining to Zelenka who finally snapped at him that he knew what he was doing. John rolled his eyes but followed those who had been working for the past twelve hours to the mess hall for food and then off to the bunks that had been assigned to them.

Over the next few days, John came to regret his insistence on coming on the universe's dullest mission. It was so dull, if fact, that he actually got through all his paperwork in the first three days and had nothing better to do than read and play Tetris. McKay looked more than a little smug about the whole thing and even gave John an 'I told you so'. He did take the time to give regular updates to Gen. O'Neill, informing him that it was likely the dullest world changing event he had ever participated in and sent progressive pictures of the shrinking sun.

The final day, the Odyssey had to get closer in and the whole crew watched the last few hours as the red supergiant star sputtered and lost its remaining energy. John had requested a few more of the 304s to join them as over the previous day, Carter's scans picked up evidence of Naquadah and Trinium. They had decided to blast the cooling core of the star, which was made up of many of the heavier elements of the periodic table. O'Neill arrived with the Apollo and the Daedalus early enough to be beamed over and watch the star's last few hours.

"So, what are we looking at?" O'Neil asked as he sidled up to John.

"Well, we already have over two thousand charged. Rikki read out that ZPM-2389 finished charging about a half hour ago. At this point, I don't think it would be a risk if we didn't deplete the star, but I think that the three of them want to finish it off, just to say that they did and because it's looking like there is a high quantity of Naquadah and Trinium at the core," John stated.

"How much are they estimating?" O'Neill asked, happy to hear there was a bonus number of ZPMs and even valuable materials needed for building more 304s and making necessary repairs.

"Enough to recreate Atlantis five times over and still build a hundred 304s. Carter says we're looking at mega tons of the stuff. No wonder the Ancients had no issues finding the materials for all those stargates. They probably just used up excess materials to create more convenient transportation for foot travel," John remarked happily.

O'Neill's eyes had gone wide at the information, "I'm not sure we have enough space to store that much Naquadah and Trinium."

"Yeah, I had an idea about that. We were planning on going back to Lantea when we get to Pegasus. We figure no one is going to look for us on a planet we already abandoned. I'm thinking we hook up the Apollo and the Daedalus with Wormhole drives and have them do a bunch of milk runs to Lantea. We can hide our lovely stockpile from Wraith and marauders alike by covering it with a shielding and cloaking generator. From there, any time the SGC needs some raw materials, we just ship it through the gate, or you send someone to come pick it up. Of course, a good supply should already be left on Earth for making a few more 304s," John suggested.

O'Neill looked thoughtful for a moment, "And it won't hurt you if you need it since we are planning on installing an Asgard Core on Atlantis. So, you can use whatever materials you need for repairs and expansions to Atlantis. Plus, it will keep the Goa'uld from getting their grubby paws on it, since they can't even travel to the Pegasus to go a-raiding. I'll give the proposal some serious thought. At the very least, I think Atlantis should get a third of the materials. Your kid was the person to come up with the idea of draining stars and well… we kinda owe her and you big."

John chuckled, "God, could you imagine what it would have been like if Rikki had half of 1% of the Goa'uld's galactic domination ambitions. It's a good thing my kid thinks science is the most important thing ever. I'm pretty sure that if I suggested building a Lightsaber, she'd build it just to prove she could and then hand if off to me to do what I want with it."

O'Neill looked thoughtful once more then smirked, "You get your kid to build functioning models of Lightsabers and the blasters from Star Wars or better, and I'll go to war to give you guys _most _of the Naquadah and Trinium. God, what we could accomplish if we had those things. I don't imagine the Wraith or Goa'uld could survive a beheading. Priors either."

John chuckled before shouting over to where his daughter was monitoring the last ZPM being charged, "Rikki, Gen. O'Neill wants you to build Lightsabers and Blasters for us!"

"Oh, that's a good idea, if she can manage it," Carter commented from her place.

"Was that a challenge Col. Carter?" The now 13-year-old asked, a slight menace in her voice.

"Look, I'll give you that you're brilliant, but no one in the SGC's science division has figured out how to make one of those, Jaffa Staff weapons, sure, Zats, we got plenty of those too. But lightsabers and Star Wars Blasters which are basically plasma guns? I haven't seen it happen," Carter stated skeptically. "They require too much power."

"Gen O'Neill, can I have one of the ZPMs for that project you just assigned? It doesn't need to be one of the full ones, just the last one, with whatever power it's got in it should be fine," Rikki requested. "Oh, and access to the Asgard core and about fifteen pounds of Naquadah and twenty pounds of raw Trinium."

"You already have designs drawn up, don't you?" Carter asked with a groan.

"Dad forbade me from trying to make those when I was six and first watched a New Hope. That didn't stop me from designing and calculating _how_ tomake a lightsaber or blaster," Rikki stated with a shrug. "I didn't have the materials or power source for it though."

Carter chuckled, "Jack, you're dreams of being a Jedi just became that much closer to a reality. Now, all you need to do is learn Telekinesis."

"I'm working on it," O'Neill responded with a smirk. "Daniel once told me I had a pretty good shot at ascension if I tried, so I've been meditating. I may not get the whole thing, but I want at least a cool super-power. I got the genes for it, after all."

"Wait! That wasn't a joke? I thought Dr. Jackson was joking when he said that people with the ATA gene have a higher probability of successful ascension. I want a cool super-power too!" Rikki stated, she still hadn't stopped monitoring the screen in front of her, or even typing away the minor adjustments that needed to be made as they wound down to the last bit of the star. It was now looking almost like a solid planet on fire rather than a star.

"Great, if she ends up accidently ascending, I'm blaming you, sir," John stated with a chuckle to show he wasn't really that upset.

"Please, she doesn't know how," O'Neill responded with amusement.

"She's on Atlantis, with access to the Ancient Database. I bet you she ends up with 'a cool super-power' within ten years," John stated with a smirk.

"What do I get if I win?" O'Neill asked thoughtfully.

"We'll build you a nice house for you and Carter to retire in on the beach of the Mainland on Lantea. It's gorgeous, fantastic surfing too. Weather's always damned near perfect, except for the super storm that occurs every ten years, but you can always just install a shield generator for the house,"

"Take the bet Jack. Lantea was supposed to be a tropical climate. I've seen the database, it'll be perfect for us," Carter stated with amusement.

"What do you get if I lose?" O'Neill asked.

"I get a kid with super-powers. Rikki, I vote healing, if you can manage it. I get shot at way too often," John added for his daughter's benefit.

"I'll try, Dad," Rikki stated with exasperation. "Somehow, I get the feeling you're a little harder to kill than most of the people that get shot at though."

"That's because I know how to dodge," John responded firmly. "You'll learn too. That's why you have lessons with Teyla. She can teach you how to best fight with a female build. Speed and agility are the advantages of women fighters. You'll be faster than me at dodging with Teyla teaching you."

That earned him another chuckle from his daughter. Carter, meanwhile, smirked for a whole other reason, "I'm only picking up residual heat from the core of the Star. It's dead, Jack. Rikki, are you getting any more power to the ZPM?"

O'Neill eyed the swiftly cooling core. Without the heat from the nuclear reactions in the star, its heat was being drawn out by the fridge temperatures of space. He could swear that he could see cracks forming along the surface of the core. Rikki meanwhile sighed, "Nope. We've gotten all that we can get out this poor dead star. We have 2,389 full ZPMs and one at 47.62% capacity."

McKay gave a manic laugh at that, "I'd like to see the Wraith come at us now. We've got enough firepower to obliterate them and the materials to make more ships to do the same. Pegasus is about to become a lot safer."

"Let's hope so. Sam, how long do we have to wait for the core to cool before we start blasting and harvesting the damned thing?" O'Neill asked.

"I'd say three to five weeks. I'd recommend posting the Daedalus here to keep an eye on things and they can call the rest of our fleet back when the core is cool enough to start blasting," Carter responded.

"Why does the core look like it's cracking, like that?" O'Neill asked his next question.

"Well, Naquadah has a crystalline structure. I imagine that the rapid cooling the core is undergoing is similar to super heating a piece of glass to almost the melting point and then dropping it in a bucket of ice water. There's going to be a lot of cracking and breaking apart. It's why I want the Daedalus here. If it starts breaking into pieces, that will speed up the cooling process, but it could also cause them to drift apart," Carter explained.

O'Neill gave a nod of approval, "Alright, Col. Davidson, inform Col. Caldwell that his orders are to stay and monitor the core and to let us know when it's cool enough for harvesting. Sam, what temp are they looking for here?"

"Well, the star started out at around 3500 Kelvin or 3227 Celsius before we drained it. It's core is currently reading at 3000 Kelvin. I think we want it to drop down below 500 Kelvin before we start blasting it. The reason for that is that the blasting will heat it back up a bit and we don't want to have to chase around hot star core chunks unnecessarily," Carter explained.

O'Neill nodded, "You got that Colonel?"

"Yes, sir. I'll relay the information to Col. Caldwell," Col. Davidson confirmed before leaving.

They waited another hour after that for Rig-11 to return to the launch bay. The extra rigs were already returned to the bay. Once it was in, they jumped into hyperspace and returned to Earth. They immediately started off loading most of the crates filled with ZPMs onto Atlantis and a few to the SGC. McKay immediately beamed down into the city with a case of three full ZPMs and headed directly to the power room to insert them into the city's systems, replacing the partially full ones.

Meanwhile, Zelenka went straight to the Control Tower and John went to the Chair room. Together, they brought the city's system's up to full power. The long-range sensors were back on full, the cloaking to prevent civilian eyes from seeing them was at full strength, Zelenka found that the city with full power started listing all the malfunctions and damage to it.

Rikki, meanwhile, oversaw the Marines who were ordered to bring the ZPMs down to storage. They had selected the most secure storage area and were upgrading the security around that area to ensure that no one stole any of the ZPMs. The last thing they wanted was for a Goa'uld or Wraith who knew what to actually do with one of the things to get their hands on one or more of them. The whole process was watched from a balcony by most of the senior staff of Atlantis. These ZPMs were the turning point in the war against the Wraith.

So far, Atlantis had been fighting with a severe handicap. It was as if they had been fighting with their hands tied behind their back and their feet chained together because of a lack of power. That was changing now. In addition to the city undergoing repairs, they were using the Asgard core to create another one and that would be installed on Atlantis. That core could be used to indefinitely replicate every piece of equipment that needed repairs, make drones, and create Asgard beam weapons that would be positioned throughout the city to be operated by people who didn't have the gene.

With the city's power at full strength, they could also now start taking on additional scientists and military personnel and weren't required to limit it to individuals without their families. As it was, Dr. Keller requested permission from Mr. Woolsey to invite her father, who was a pediatrician, to come to Atlantis as the new head of their pediatrics division. Woolsey had given her the all clear for that, given that he knew that with families of all sizes, they would need as many doctors of different specialties as possible.

In fact, Atlantis was, for the first time in ten thousand years, turning into what amounted to a thriving city. The next few weeks were pure chaos, resulting in Rikki hiding in her labs when she wasn't in the Odyssey's Core room, working on creating prototypes for both blasters and lightsabers. John let his daughter bury herself in her work. He knew that she didn't deal with massive chaos and large crowds very well. He figured it was because she had always been so much more advanced in her studies that she didn't learn proper socialization. He hoped that being on Atlantis, with the massive number of gifted scientists and kids her age who were the children of those scientists would give her an opportunity to learn those socialization skills. As it was, she only had a handful of friends.

He also knew that, as much as he disliked it, it was probable that she would fall in love and marry someone on Atlantis, when she was hopefully much older. Atlantis was home to John, and he knew that it was fast becoming home to Rikki as well. After all, what more could her little scientist heart desire than a city full of advanced technology that she could experiment and research in with a bunch of other scientists. Sure, there were risks involved for her, but the truth was that Earth was in just as much danger as anywhere else in the universe.

John knew that because Earth had been attacked several times over the past two decades. They had been extremely fortunate in both allies and the scientific advancements that had been made since they started going through the gate, however, and that had been a boon to the world as a whole. John knew that for all that he had earned his rank and the Medal of Honor, the members of SG-1 had earned it five times over. He was honestly surprised that Col. Carter hadn't been given the promotion over him, but he wasn't going to argue with it.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 4: DNA

John groaned, he had a headache building. A full two months after Rikki had joined them and the Wraith attack on Earth, they were in the home stretch for returning to Pegasus. The city was finished with repairs to the vital areas and they had been stocked to the brim. The IOA had approved of the idea of using Lantea for a stockpile location and there were now several massive store houses sitting on the mainland under cloaking and shielding that was near where they planned on landing.

Rodney and Carter had just finish installing the second Asgard core in the same room as the Atlantis Database. For the past four days John had been buried under the massive amount of paperwork that came with the influx of more than ten thousand military troops from four different countries. The UK was sending three thousand Royal Marines and soldiers. Russia sent three thousand soldiers from their army. France had sent three thousand. Lastly, Germany sent one thousand. This was in addition to the Air Force giving John another thousand men, the Marine Corps giving him three thousand, and the Army sending four thousand. All told, adding in all the troops who were already stationed on Atlantis, they had roughly fifteen thousand military men and women under his command.

When he questioned why so many, Gen. O'Neill stated that they wanted to eliminate the Wraith fast. The IOA and UN had come to the decision that once the Wraith threat was gone, with the Ori threat eliminated, and the Goa'uld on their last, very weak leg, it would be time to inform the world of the Stargate Program. With the ZPMs that Earth now had at hand, they could reduce Earth's population and Climate Change problems by colonizing Lantea in a controlled manner and switch to cleaner energy sources.

John was stunned by this news, but he supposed it made sense. Earth's estimated max capacity was 9-10 billion and they were already over 7 billion people. Transferring 2 or 3 billion people to Lantea, a planet that was slightly larger and completely unpopulated, over a period of a couple of decades, would seriously reduce Earth's population and environment problems. Still, that didn't resolve his current problem of paperwork, or getting called down to the infirmary by Beckett who was claiming the information he found was very important.

Lorne looked at him with sympathy as he got up from his chair, "At least you can get a few aspirin while you're down there." His second in command had his own share of paperwork to go through and John knew that it was almost as bad as his.

He made his way quickly to the infirmary and hoped that Rikki hadn't allowed some idiot PFC Marine cut off his arm while testing her prototype lightsabers. She had made managed what Carter had said was nearly impossible in three weeks. The first thing the girl had done was take the partially filled ZPM and used it to charge a massive amount of what she was calling Micro ZPMs or MZPMs that she had created. These were then used to resolve the power problems for powering the damned designs. From there, it was a matter of days for her to finish the prototypes.

It had taken another week for O'Neill to get a range on the Marines Twenty-Nine Palms base to be completely cleared for a few days and have a bunch of concrete barriers and the targets installed for testing purposes. Rikki had left with Ronon and a group of Marines to have fun testing it the day before. John would have gone too, but he had too much work to do to play with Jedi weapons made real. He figured he could have fun with it when they got to Lantea and started clearing land for growing crops. Lightsabers were a damned sight faster for logging than chainsaws and they didn't have the ability to transport the bigger equipment that they would otherwise use for clearing large swaths of land. As it was, they were working on modifying a few tractors to work off power from the MZPMs rather than gas.

He sighed in relief when he entered the infirmary and there weren't any injured people. They had created a full medical area down the hall for physicals for the new people entering the city and John knew that as a result the majority of the doctors were working on getting everyone processed. The only people in the infirmary were an agitated Beckett and a nervous looking Keller.

"So, what's the emergency?" John asked as he leaned against an empty bed. "I have a lot of work to do, you know."

"I know and we wouldn't have called you down here unless it wasn't important. Carson has been working on the DNA profiling of everyone that has come up as ATA positive or as a carrier, as you know. You and your daughter have both given some samples and well… Carson?" Jennifer looked at Beckett with concern.

"I found quite a few anomalies, John. More so than with anyone else who is ATA positive. They aren't negative, mind you… just… odd if we are viewing things as the last Ancients ascended thousands of years ago and haven't been back since. Gen. O'Neill also popped up with a lot the same anomalies and Col. Lorne and I also had quite a few, which got me thinking…" Beckett was seeming to ramble, so John got impatient.

"Get to the point, Carson. I have a lot of work to do," John interrupted.

"I'm getting to it. It just needs some explanation. So, as I was saying, I thought that it was possible that not all Ancients were choosing to _stay _ascended and I think I'm onto something. You see, when I compared the afore mentioned people against the massive DNA database the Ancients left, which had the DNA profiles of _all _the Ancients in Atlantis before it was abandoned… Well… here, you look at it yourself," Carson handed over the tablet he had been clutching.

John raised an eyebrow at Carson before looking at the tablet and freezing. It took him a few minutes to process the first picture and then he paled before snapping his head back up to look at the two doctors, "Is this a joke, because if it is, I swear to god…" His voice was icy.

"It's not. I triple checked. You're not just some lucky bastard who got more than the usual amount of Ancient DNA. Gen. O'Neill isn't either. That's your mother, isn't it, John?" Carson asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, that's my mom. Gen. O'Neill is half as well?" John asked, his voice a little shaky now.

"Yes, I spoke to him over a video conference and sent the information and got his permission to share this next part with you. My maternal Grandfather was Ancient as well, so you aren't alone in weird relatives. There's more though, go to your daughter's DNA profile," Beckett instructed properly.

John obeyed and nearly felt like his world had dropped out from under him. He had to brace himself against the bed to remain standing, "How? Nancy isn't Ancient. I know that for a fact. She's never understood half the things that Rikki babbles on about. The only thing that she was good at was languages and politics."

"You can get that high of a percentage if both parents are half and contribute a good portion of their Ancient DNA to the child since the child only gets half of each parent's DNA. Your ex-wife is almost definitely ATA positive. I traced the portion in Rebecca from her maternal side to a different Ancient in the database. That man in that photograph, is he your ex-wife's father?" Beckett pressed.

"I… I don't know. Nancy's dad bailed on her and her mother when Nancy was six. Told her that she wasn't 'good enough'. It gave Nancy a massive complex about being rejected. I tried tracking her father down with a PI, but the guy found nothing," John stated. "He said it was like her dad vanished off the face of the planet."

"Yeah, Gen. O'Neill said that was pretty much the same story with his dad. He tried finding his dad once he got into the Air Force but also had no luck. Look, the reason we got Gen. O'Neill's permission to share this with you… is well… Gen. O'Neill is a near familial match to Rebecca. It looks like he's her uncle," Jennifer stated. "We think that some of the Ascended Ancients may have made a decision to revive humanity's… potential by having kids with humans who were carriers for the ATA gene."

John nodded slowly, "And that Gen. O'Neill, Nancy, and I are all the by-product of this effort. Rikki is the Ancients' reward, I guess. Damn, I can't believe she's at 82% Ancient DNA. She's more Alteran than she is human."

"Hey, I'm at 32% Ancient DNA. Personally, I think any of us could qualify as successes, even if this… Ancient named Romulus doesn't or didn't agree. I mean, you have two PhDs according to Rodney and you're a General. Gen O'Neill is in charge of the security of the entire planet. I'm one of the top geneticists in my field and your daughter, well… no one can doubt that she definitely is a success," Beckett tried to reassure John.

"And Lorne?" John asked.

"I can only tell you this because you're his commanding officer and the rules are a little different for us. He's like me, maternal grandmother in his case," Beckett explained.

"I'm guessing it's like that with all of us who have a higher compatibility to Ancient technology," John stated rather than asked.

"I've identified over thirty individuals who are within five generations of an Ancient. Some of them are as low as 8% Ancient DNA, Rebecca's the highest. All of them are the strongest ATA positives though," Beckett explained.

John nodded slowly, "You know, I've always wanted to know who Nancy's father was. He was the biggest chip on Nancy's shoulder. She never let it go that he walked away. She always had to prove herself, it's what drove her into politics. It's what drove her to cheat too. Now I know, and I kills me a little bit that I can't give Nancy that closure. That I can't hand her the evidence and say 'Here, look at this. This is who your father was. He wasn't a good man. He wasn't anyone you should want the approval of. He was a man who used your mother and you as part of an experiment and he was _so _wrong.'"

"You still love her, your ex-wife," Jennifer stated, more than asked.

"No. I don't. It's been over six years and I've moved on. I just… she's Rikki's mother and if I could, I would give her a reason _not _to reject our daughter. If she had this information, everything would make so much more sense to her. Um… can you explain this to Rikki, when she comes back. It will be better coming from a scientific perspective with her," John was feeling numb by this point.

"I noticed you haven't said anything about your mother being an Ancient," Jennifer pointed out gently.

"That's because it doesn't matter. Mom, she wasn't like Nancy's father. She died of cancer when I was thirteen. I watched her get buried, she never re-ascended. She didn't abandon me or Dave. I think… She may have started it out as an experiment, but I think she loved my dad and she loved Dave and I too much to abandon us like these other Ancients did to their kids," John finished, holding in his agony. "Oh God, Dave… Damn, the second the Stargate Program goes public, I have to tell my brother. He needs to know… he needs to know what we are, what his two kids are."

Beckett and Jennifer nodded sympathetically. Beckett waved at the tablet, "I've sent you a copy of those files. Um… would you be so kind as to have Col. Lorne come down next. We're trying to inform everyone who had those… anomalies privately."

John nodded and headed back to his office. He knew he was out of it and told Lorne to go down to talk with Beckett and Keller. Lorne eyed him with concern as John sat down in his chair hard before leaving. John waited until he was gone before forcing himself to get back to work. He started with checking his e-mail, as he was constantly going back and forth with Landry and O'Neill these days. He was glad he did because there was an e-mail from O'Neill telling him to call him on the secure line as soon as he had talked with Beckett.

John groaned again but picked up the phone and did as ordered. At least he had a fairly good idea what O'Neill wanted to talk about. The phone rang twice before O'Neill answered, "This is Gen. O'Neill."

"It's Sheppard. Beckett said he already told you the news," John decided to get right into it.

"Yeah, bit of a surprise for me, but it answers a hell of a lot of questions I've always had. Rikki's still at the range, right?" O'Neill didn't beat around the bush either.

"Yeah. She called this morning. Apparently, lightsabers can cut through those concrete pillars you set up like a hot knife through butter," John smiled a little at that. His daughter had been so excited about the success of making a functional lightsaber, but with multiple settings for the severity of damage caused.

"Yeah, Sam's out there with them watching it all. She told me that she wants to include swordsmanship to training for the SGC and our spaceships," O'Neill chuckled.

"So… I understand you're my daughter's uncle," John turned the conversation back to the important topic.

O'Neill was quiet for a second before responding, "Yeah, I guess I am. I gotta admit, I never really considered that I might have half siblings out there. The PI I hired to look for my old man said there wasn't a single trace of him after he walked out on us. Of course, that makes sense if he ascended for a few years before coming back down a decade later and using a different name to knock-up someone else. And this was all well before social security and those things got beefed up after 9/11."

"Kind of makes you wonder how many other half siblings you have out there, huh?" John asked halfheartedly.

"A bit, yeah. Listen. I won't push or anything, but I was wondering if you'd allow me to be in Rikki's life. She's your daughter and I respect that, but she and her mom are pretty much the only family I have that are blood relatives." O'Neill requested.

"I think Rikki would love that. Forewarning though, if you try contacting Nancy, she might not take it too well. She's put in a provision in the custody agreement that there be no direct contact between us and her. I can't tell you how well she'll take it if she learns that you and I work together, and you come along claiming to be her brother. She's more likely to tell you to fuck off than she is to embrace you as long-lost family right now," John stated. "She's always resented her father for walking out on her and honestly, it's possible that she could take it out on you."

"Yeah, I couldn't really think of a reason to contact her without it compromising the confidentiality required for us. I am going to place her on our list for people to get a locator beacon though. If things ever go south on Earth, I would really hate myself if I let my only known sibling die, even if she's unaware of it. Her connection to all of us warrants it," O'Neill stated straight forwardly.

"Hey, that's your choice. I already have my brother and his family with locator beacons and Rikki got one, so I was already maxed out with the five they give us the option for. Nancy wasn't exactly my priority, you know?" John responded.

"I understand that. She is _my _family, however, whether or not she ever knows about it. I just wanted to make sure it was fine with you if I got to know my niece," O'Neill stated.

"Again, there are no problems towards that for me. I just wanted to warn you about Nancy. Oh, she's apparently engaged, so if you put her on the list, you may want to include her fiancé too. No need to earn her eternal hatred by saving her and not her soon-to-be husband, sir," John warned him.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the heads up," O'Neill stated before changing the topic slightly. "Oh, and one more thing. Knock it off with the formality. You and I are both generals now. Call me Jack. If for no other reason than because I'm technically family to you too."

John chuckled a little, "That I can do, Jack. Though, you're really my ex-brother-in-law."

That earned him a laugh, "Right, well, I'm gonna come by the day after tomorrow, once they finish up playing with the new toys. Once it's been confirmed that the blasters and lightsabers are good for production, we'll be mass producing them for our people. I'm already looking into finding people who know fencing at minimum within the program. If we can't get enough, we'll carefully recruit family members of people within the program with the skill set."

"Well, I've got Ronon and myself at bare minimum to teach here, but we can't teach fifteen thousand men and women how to use a sword on our own. Keller said that the retrovirus is about done, though and Todd knows how to use a sword too. Teyla might be able to teach it, with some training, but even four people isn't really enough for that many people, Jack," John stated.

"I know. You really think that the Wraith is going to help you though?" Jack asked curious about that.

"Surprisingly, yes. Todd's made it quite clear that he doesn't have any hives left and it would be difficult for him to take one once he's taken the retrovirus, something about being willing to betray the 'nature of his people'. He's swearing up and down that he's willing to stick with us now. I can't be sure just yet, but I think it may be safe to say that he's gone the way of Teal'c. Abandoning his people in the hopes of being able to save them. You did get my report on that, right?" John asked.

"Yeah. I'm still not entirely certain about it, but he's been more help than hinderance, from what I understand. The only real black mark against him is the whole Daedalus incident and given the circumstances… well I want you to keep a close eye on him, but if you say your gut says he's on the level, I'll take your word for it. I followed my gut with Teal'c and that turned out better than I could have imagined at the time," Jack finished. "Oh, you have things ready for the Jaffa contingent, right? They'll be coming through at the end of the week."

"Yeah, we do. We've kept our gate disconnected so it didn't interfere with the SOP for the SGC, but we plan on hooking it back up on Friday so they can come straight through to us," John replied easily. "The North East Pier has plenty of room for them still. Hell, we could probably take on another 50 thousand people in terms of space now that we've got full power with plenty to spare."

"Good, good. Alright, that's all I really needed to talk to you about, for now. I'll let you get back to the massive amount of paperwork you have to deal with," Jack stated. "Good luck with all that."

"Please, Jack, I know you have just as much, if not more to deal with," John responded.

Jack laughed without really responding before hanging up. John forced himself to focus back on his paperwork and not his strangely increased family. He got the feeling that Jack's eagerness to be involved in Rikki's life had more to it than just wanting blood relatives, but he didn't feel like it was the right time to read into the situation. Two days later, when Rikki came back with the others, John took her to talk with Beckett, who explained the situation.

John watched as his daughter seemed to absorb the information and then nodded, "Well, I liked Gen. O'Neill when I met him. He seemed like he had a fun sense of humor. I could do worse for an uncle."

"You're taking this much better than I expected," Beckett stated with no little surprise.

"Well, it's not like I was the one who got mistreated or betrayed. That's my mom and my uncle who got that. Dad's right though, Grandma… she may have been an Ancient, but she had to have loved her family to have decided to die rather than abandon them. Mom's dad was just plain awful though. I wish she could know that it wasn't her fault. Maybe, then she would stop blaming me for her problems," Rikki shrugged it off.

John frowned, but realized that for her, it may not feel so personal. If anything, it gave her closure for her mother's behavior. Once they finished, they left the infirmary and headed back to John's quarters. John eyed his daughter, "You can get angry you know. It's pretty big to learn that you're less than 20% human."

"I'm not angry. I'm just processing, you know? I mean… I guess it kind of makes a lot of sense. You're super smart because you're half Ancient. I got even more of that, so I'm even smarter. That's the biggest difference between humans and Ancients, evolutionarily speaking. Their mental capacity is what separates humans from Ancients.

"I can live with being a hybrid. There are plenty of hybrid animals. Wolves and dogs are a good example. They don't even look that similar and they can have babies with little issue and those babies are even capable of having babies. It's like that in a way. The Ancients made humans to _be _genetically compatible with them. I already knew we were hybrids, because we have the ATA gene which means we _can't _be pure human, we _had to have _Ancient DNA to have the ATA gene. It's just now I know that I'm a lot more Ancient, or rather Alteran than I am human. That doesn't change who I am, just what I know about myself genetically," Rikki stated firmly.

"No, it doesn't, Rikki. However, it does change what we know you are capable of, what we all are capable of. All of us who have that near ancestry. It puts us a lot closer to Ascension, for starters. It gives us a leg up on that, and on using the technology the Ancients left behind. Looking back, there was evidence of this. I mean, in the Pegasus Galaxy, there were a few planets where being a direct descendant of the Ancients gave you royal rights. They used the technology to determine if the person was 'worthy' of being the rightful heir to the throne. Now that I think about it, those worlds have much smaller populations to Earth, so having a concentration of Ancient DNA there makes sense. But having that strength or stronger on Earth, where there are billions of people? Having that level of connectivity should have been a problem," John stated, with a shrug.

"Yeah, but we didn't have this evidence before. I'm guessing that it was my genetic link to Gen. O'Neill that made Dr. Beckett look into the possibility," Rikki sighed. "At least I have _someone _from that side of the family who cares about me."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Your mother, she's got a lot of issues. She fears rejection. You know that. We will just let her be happy with Jerry and you can have fun with a cool uncle who pretty much has saved the world a dozen times over and a Dad who has too," John stated with a nudge.

"Great, two generals for the main male role models. I'm so never going to be able to date," Rikki groaned with that realization.

"Oh, we're not the worst of it. Ronon's already developed a soft spot for you and so has Teyla. I figure you'll be twenty at least before anyone starts looking at you as a potential romantic partner," John grinned. "Not that that's a problem just yet. I mean, you're only thirteen. You've got a _lot _of time before you should be thinking about dating."

Rikki rolled her eyes before snorting, "At least I won't have to worry about being harassed. Anyone would be pretty much deterred from pure fear of the guy who makes the Wraith tremble in their leather boots and the guy who led the destruction of the Goa'uld."

"Too true. Oh, your _uncle_ will be coming by later today to get to know you. He's apparently the type that thinks family is really important," John stated before leaving his kid to her thoughts with a final comment. "He also wants to see the lightsaber and blaster."

Once he was done talking with his daughter, he went down to see Todd. It was the first time he was doing so since he had learnt the truth about his heritage. He had held off until seeing how Rikki reacted before going to see Todd, because he needed to know how much damage control was needed before he dealt with the other elephant in the room. John waved the guards away, wanting to talk with the Wraith in private.

"Can the Wraith tell the difference from a human and an Ancient? When they feed on them, I mean," John asked without preamble. He sat on the ground, as Todd had been sitting and reading when he arrived. It was one of Rikki's books too.

Todd looked up, "Hello to you too, John Sheppard. The answer to your question is no. I have fed on both humans and the Lanteans alike and the only discernable difference was perhaps that the Lanteans held a fractional amount more of defiance towards me which was more appetizing, I doubt that is what you mean though. However, since your people have returned to Atlantis, I have noticed that a great many of the worlds have taken on a great deal of defiance to them as well. Why do you ask?"

"I recently learnt that my mother was a full-blood, certified Ancient, one of the ones who where on Atlantis just before it was abandoned," John admitted uncertain of how Todd would take that information.

Todd burst into laughter. John frowned at this and waited for the Wraith to calm down a bit, "Apologies, John Sheppard. It is just that from the moment I met you, you reminded me of a particular Ancient I met at the end of our war with them. She was… peculiar… unlike the others of her kind, she had _compassion_ for the Wraith. Her desire was to find a peaceful resolution. She and I encounter each other several times and although I was young and naive and at a severe disadvantage, she repeatedly allowed me to live. Those with her always seemed all too willing to obey her in her orders, even when they were uneasy about allowing my survival.

"Her name was Ata. One of our conversations stuck with me, and it is something I have never been able to let go of, even in my advanced age. She once asked me that if I had the choice, of whether to feed on humans or not, what would I choose. I told her that I despised the need to feed on humans. That was our first encounter. After that, I saw her kill multiple others who stated that they would choose to feed on humans, but she spared me. When I asked her why, she told me that she was seeking a way to remove the need for Wraith to feed on humans, but she was a very long way off from success on the how. Then she asked me that if she could create such a thing, would I be willing to take that treatment," Todd eyed John knowing.

"You said yes, didn't you? Damn, that's why you returned my life when we first met. I reminded you of her," John stated this, a little stunned. "That was her name, or the name for her that was in the Ancient database, Ata Roalbel. She called herself Sorcha when she married my dad. They met in Ireland and immigrated to the U.S. before having Dave and me. Damn, you knew my mom before she Ascended. She died when I was thirteen."

"Did she truly die, or did she merely re-ascend?" Todd asked. "Did you see her body? When they ascend, the body vanishes."

"I know, the body is turned incorporeal. Yeah, she really died. I was with her in the hospital when it happened. She told me that one day I would understand and that I should know that she would always be proud of me and Dave," John stated, some pain seeping into his voice. "It was also open casket for the funeral, so yeah, she really died."

Todd nodded, "I am sorry to hear it. Still, I believe it is only a few days before I am administered Dr. Keller's retrovirus. Your mother's greatest wish is about to be fulfilled. You should be happy for that because you will be a part of it. Your daughter looks a great deal like her grandmother." John was surprised that Todd noticed that.

"Yeah, Rikki jokes that no energy can be created or destroyed, so when a person dies, they must be reincarnated somewhere else. Her theory is that she's my mother's reincarnation. Given how brilliant they both are, or were in my mother's case, I can accept that," John stated with a soft smile.

"That is an… interesting sentiment. Though, I doubt there is much scientific evidence for it," Todd mused.

"There isn't any scientific evidence for God either, but that doesn't stop most of the people who are being sent to my city from believing in him. Hell, right now all I _do _believe in is that the Ancients created humans for the purpose of genetic diversity when they had low enough numbers that it was risky for them," John stated. "I've got no evidence against it and a lot for it, but that doesn't mean I'm worshiping them."

"Who is this God, what is his name?" Todd asked, curious and willing to let the conversation to divert. He had just revealed more than he had intended to John. Ata had told him a great many more things that Todd could not and would not share at this time with John. He might not ever share it with John.

John snorted, "Well, the funny thing is that most people don't actually know. They just call him God because he's the only god they believe in. There are a lot of different names for him depending on who you ask. Elohim, Allah, Krsna, Yahweh, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, and Adonai are a few. It all depends on who you ask, their religious denomination, where they are from in the world, those kinds of things. Most of them are various translations of the word God, the Father, or the Lord from different languages. That's what my mom taught me, at least."

"I see. You were not raised religious?" Todd asked. "Raised to believe in this 'God'?"

John snorted, "Like hell I wasn't. My dad forced me to go to CCD, that's short for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. It's a Catholic Church thing. They basically indoctrinate you into the Catholic Church's way of interpreting the Bible. That's the book about God, by the way. I just never really stuck for me. My mom wasn't nearly as religious, but she went along with it. Rikki, well, Nancy insisted that Rikki do CCD, Nancy is a devout Catholic.

"Rikki rebelled hard against that. She was already firmly in the 'Ancient Aliens were the personification of gods' camp thanks to Dr. Jackson's book. So, first class of CCD, Rikki went and sat there, meek and obedient as could be. The teacher told Nancy and I that our daughter was a little angel, she was so good in the class. The second lesson, _that's_ when Rikki let loose. She had read through the entire Bible and wrote a twenty-page essay on all the fallacies and contradictions in it. She then informed the teacher that the Bible was stupid because Dragons didn't actually exist because there is no evidence in the fossil record, the Earth was scientifically proven to be far older than the Bible claimed, and humans were incapable of immaculate conception," John was barely repressing his laughter. "They kicked her out of the class, calling her the spawn of Satan."

"How did your former-mate take this?" Todd asked, looking particularly amused by the story even if he didn't know who 'Satan' was.

"She accused me of corrupting our child against God and I slept on the couch for a month. Granted, I did give Rikki the necessary materials for her arguments about the age of the Earth and a book on fossils, so… she wasn't wrong. I honestly didn't think that Rikki would take it that far though. I had told her to just go along with it and then she could be a Holiday Catholic," John stated. "She didn't like that idea."

"I am now wondering if it is possible to read this Bible book that makes the humans on your world so irrational," Todd seemed to be intrigued by the whole thing.

"I can get you a copy. They're everywhere. Hell, I'll even buy you your own and then you can use it to tear apart the logic of all the Christians on Atlantis. It will be a blast to watch," John chuckled.

"I am judging by your amusement that you dislike the religion," Todd observed correctly.

"I'm not a fan of organized religion at all. It's all just a big gimmick that allows the 'priests' to make money without having to pay taxes," John stated. "The whole thing is filled with hypocrisy. Hell, the Catholic Church spends half it's time criticizing homosexuality while protecting pedophile priests who are abusing young boys. It's sick."

"This is the same religion your former-mate wished your child to join?" Todd asked, his expression serious.

"Yeah, hence my not being pissed at my kid for essentially getting herself banned from joining the Catholic Church," John sighed.

"I believe it was a wise decision on your part to aid your daughter in evading such an unfortunate fate. The idea of taking advantage of an adolescent in such a manner… it is not unheard of among the Wraith, but it is strictly prohibited and is met with the harshest of punishments," Todd stated firmly.

"Oh, yeah? What do you do to the Wraith who do that?" John asked, morbidly curious.

"We imprison them and deny them any food, allowing them to starve over a length of several months or even years depending on the wraith's resilience. It is a very unpleasant death," Todd explained bluntly.

John nodded, "Sounds fair to me, but then I'm the kind of guy who says if someone rapes someone, the rapist should be castrated, forced to watch his balls burn and then be burned alive too."

"That sounds like a rather unpleasant death for the culprit," Todd commented, shuddering at the mental image.

"It would be too. They used to burn witches and heretics a long time ago. They would 'burn them alive' to 'cleanse the soul'. That was the Catholic Church again, like I said, they aren't exactly the pillars of virtue they pretend to be," John explained before chuckling. "And here I am avoiding paperwork by discussing my hatred of Theology with a Wraith. If anyone asks, I was interrogating you for the information on the Wraith's biggest weaknesses."

Todd's expression turned thoughtful. He remained silent for a moment and John almost figured the conversation was over when he spoke, "Wraith adolescents have to be forced to feed on humans for the first hundred years or so after they physically mature from youths. It is a long and arduous process. One that is frequently a failure. That's where you will find more Wraith, like myself, willing to take Dr. Keller's retrovirus, the adolescents of my kind."

"Adolescents, they're considered adolescents for the first hundred years?" John asked, too shocked by the information he had just been given. It was massive.

"Wraith are considered adolescents until such time as they are willing to feed on humans without regressing back into their refusal stage. My adolescence lasted for nearly three hundred years, though I was an anomaly. Only one in six wraith adolescents survive the weening process," Todd explained. "Many choose starvation over the life of death we must live to survive. However, once they are weened, most come to relish the death they breed. It is our own means of hypocrisy, if you will."

John nodded slowly, "But if we can find the young ones, we can save them."

It wasn't a question, but Todd nodded anyway, "I believe that most would be exceedingly grateful. It is extremely rare that an adolescent does not resist the feeding process at first."

John smiled, "Why do I get the feeling that you've never really stopped resisting it?"

Todd raised an eyebrow, "There is a reason I was aware that the Wraith _can _sustain themselves on something other than humans for a time, John Sheppard."

John broke into a genuine grin, relief flooding through him. He knew his gut instinct about Todd had been right and now he would get to reap the rewards of trusting his gut, "Just call me John."

"I am not certain I understand what you are saying," Todd stated, his expression turning to one of confusion.

"Humans don't usually call each other by their first _and _last names. When you don't know the person as well, you use the last name, like Mr. Woolsey, or Gen. Sheppard, if the person has a title like me. If you know each other well, however, you call each other by the first name. I call Dr. Rodney McKay Rodney, Teyla is Teyla, not Ms. Emmagan, get it?" John asked, a little uncertain with the request for informality now that it was out there.

"You wish to have me call you by your given name as a means of familiarity?" Todd looked just as uncertain.

"Yeah, we're allies, maybe even friends, or at least I'd like for us to be friends. That means we can't be as formal with each other," John decided to plow ahead rather than back down. Backing down wasn't something he usually did.

Todd nodded slowly, "You wish to be friends with me? Although I am a Wraith?" John could see the near panic in Todd's eyes.

It was unusual, but he decided to press forward still, "Yes, I want to be your friend, Todd. Do you accept?" He decided to give Todd the opportunity to refuse.

Todd nodded once, firmly, his expression clearing of emotion, "I do, John."

John smiled brightly at that, something in his heart squeezing with pleasure, "Great. That's great. Well, tomorrow is the big day, are you excited?"

"I will be very pleased to never feel the hunger again," Todd responded in his stiff way of speaking. John accepted it with another nod. He figured he had pushed Todd's comfort zone enough for one day.

"Well, I'm glad you won't have to feel the hunger ever again," John stated. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. I have a bunch of paperwork to do and your little tidbit just made more work for me."

Todd's expression had the slightest flicker of disappointment on it, but he nodded his understanding, "I will no longer be required to be in containment, once I have taken the retrovirus, correct?"

"That's correct, though you will have an armed guard for a while. Just until people get used to it, to you and feel more comfortable around you, alright? We wouldn't want Ronon attacking you on principle, now would we?" John asked, half joking.

"That would indeed be unpleasant," Todd confirmed. John watched Todd's expression alter slightly before settling into something that John suspected could have been compassion. "One more moment, John."

John waited and gave Todd a nod to continue, so the wraith did, "Your Mother, she often mentioned many things that had not come to pass. Many things that I did not believe possible, some that I still do not believe possible. Still, she made a rather odd prediction once, that I have just realized was accurate and now makes me wonder how many others were as well. She also always referred to me as Todd, though, I had forgotten that until just now."

"What was the prediction that she made?" John asked curiously, morbidly so. He had never known the Ancient side to his mother.

"That when I had reached my lowest point, with little hope of survival, her son would come, he would call me Todd as she had, and he would be my salvation. That was her final prediction before the Lanteans departed from Pegasus, they were also her parting words. I had forgotten them until just now," Todd admitted, though he hemmed a little of what the prediction was, leaving the last little bit out.

John smiled and gave a shake of his head making an effort to conceal his shock, "Mom always did know what Dave and I got up to, guess I know why now, don't I?" Todd's memory had revived one of his own that he pushed back down, not wanting to examine it. It was a painful one and Dave had long since apologized for the incident that brought it about.

Instead, John got up and gave Todd a wave goodbye. The guards gave John an odd look and one stopped him, "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

John eyed the Marine before nodded, "Go ahead Lance Corporal." The man looked to be young, no more than nineteen at most.

"Sir, why do you always insist on interrogating the prisoner privately?" The Lance Corporal asked.

"Because Todd and I have a complex history and I want to build up a sense of trust between us. He's much more willing to share information when he doesn't have strangers that he doesn't trust eyeing him with suspicion and holding weapons in his face. You know what happens tomorrow, don't you, Lance Corporal?" John asked, just a little sharply. He couldn't very well refuse to answer the question, or he risked people realizing that it was _more _than just him getting information out of Todd. Still, he was unsettled by the end of the conversation with Todd and he was near ready to take it out on the Lance Corporal.

"The prisoner will be given Dr. Keller's retrovirus and released from confinement, Sir. He will be under guard after that, but he won't be held in containment any longer," The Lance Corporal responded after a slight hesitation.

"That's right. Todd had agreed to fully cooperate with us. Do you have any idea how valuable an asset that makes him?" John asked, his tone harsh now.

"Very, sir. My NCO told us when we arrived that the Prisoner was vital in Atlantis being able to prevent the Wraith from reaching Earth successfully," The youth shifted slightly, clearly uncomfortable under the gaze of a General.

"That's right, he provided us with extremely valuable information that enabled us to destroy that Hive that was going to attack Earth. If it weren't for him, there's no telling what kind of damage could have been done, the number of deaths that would have occurred, never mind the damage to the trust of the people of the world towards the governments in the know for allowing it to happen. What's more is that he's willingly agreed to test a valuable retrovirus that can be used so that we can eliminate the Wraith threat _without _committing mass genocide. Between those two things, he's pretty much betrayed his own kind in the hopes of _saving _his own kind from themselves. So, show him a little respect. His name is Todd, not 'the Prisoner' and for God's sake, don't go acting so nervous around him. Wraith can literally smell fear," John finished before turning and leaving.

He had just revealed that he respected Todd, and he wasn't certain it was the best idea, but people needed to become accustomed to Todd, just like they were adjusting to the Jaffa in the city. Especially if his mother's prediction as she was dying was accurate, which given that she had made an accurate prediction ten thousand years in the future, wasn't as unlikely as it could have been. John's heart clenched again at _that _possiblity, but Todd had never shown any interest in that regard.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I have been working non-stop because I work in a grocery store and if you have been in one in the past few weeks, you know how insane things have gotten for us. I do have tomorrow off though, so you get this chapter today and another one tomorrow since both are already written, I just need to edit them.**

Chapter 5: Retrovirus

The next morning was tense for a multitude of reasons. Jack and Carter had stayed on Atlantis the night before, taking the time to get to know Rikki and examining the prototypes which had been more than he had expected. Thus, John had to force himself not to be stiff around the man who was both his boss and his ex-brother-in-law. Fortunately, there were no awkward feeling on the latter issue because Jack had no relationship with his own sister, having never even met her.

Still, he wanted to be an uncle to Rikki and John didn't see a reason why he shouldn't allow it. Jack had even brought an excellent ice breaking gift. He had brought Rikki a Jaffa Staff weapon and Zat'nik'tel, or Zat gun for short, to disassemble, play with, and improve upon. It was the perfect present for a little mad scientist like Rikki. John had reluctantly allowed the two to bond without his interference. Instead, he did his due diligence and reported the information about the Wraith that Todd had shared with him to Woolsey.

"You mean to tell me that Wraith teenagers are essentially tortured into feeding on humans?" Woolsey asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I mean, we always thought that Ellie was an outlier, but it turns out that it's totally normal for them to _not _want to feed on humans. Apparently, only one in six ends up feeding on us, the rest choose to starve to death rather than feed. That's a damned high mortality rate," John huffed out, still worked up from his conversation with Todd.

"And it means that if we can get to these children before they finally become accustomed to feeding on humans, they may be more than willing to take the retrovirus and accept a peaceful life living alongside humans. This is excellent news, Gen. Sheppard. This means we may be capable of avoiding committing mass genocide after all," Woolsey stated, more than a little excited.

"Exactly. Genocide never did anyone any good. Besides, the way I see, it, sure most of those who go on into adulthood as Wraith may feed on humans, but there's no telling how many would love to do what Todd's doing and dropping the need to feed altogether. According to Todd, my _mother_ was working on finding a way to help get rid of the need to feed too. That's why Todd was willing to trust me in the first place apparently. Because he knew my mom and he hoped that I could finish what she started," John explained.

Woolsey nodded, "Dr. Beckett informed me of his discovery. I must admit, I'm a bit unsettled by the information that there are Ancients out there that are going around and having children with humans to up the evolutionary drive, so to speak. How is Dr. Sheppard handling the information?"

"Rikki took it surprisingly well. She's kind of excited to have another uncle and Jack seems to be all for being an uncle to Rikki, so I think the two of them are viewing the whole thing as win-win. Plus, I think she's viewing it as upping her chances of gaining super-powers, so there's that too," John stated with an indulgent chuckle.

Woolsey eyed him critically, "It doesn't sound like she's taking this very seriously. She's barely human, if she can even be called that."

"What do you expect? Rikki's _thirteen_. No matter how advanced and smart she is for her age, she's still got a kid's mindset for a lot of things. There's a reason that I previously banned her from making lightsabers and blasters. Personally, I'm just glad that it _isn't _having a massive emotional impact on her. She's already going through enough with her mother handling the whole custody thing the way that she did. At least this isn't adding to the trauma of it all. In fact, if anything, it's helping her cope with it," John finished with a shrug.

"And how are you handling this, John? It must have been a heavy blow to learn something like that about your mother," Woolsey asked, trying to be sympathetic.

"I was in shock, at first, but looking back… it answers some questions. My mom always seemed to know what Dave and I got up to, even when we knew that she had no way of knowing. I'm guessing she was clairvoyant or precognative due to her state of near ascension. Also, she was a brilliant scientist, the real brains behind Sheppard Utilities right up until she died. She and my dad built that company up from nothing, two immigrants off the boat from Ireland. Dad had a head for numbers and Mom knew how to generate money through building an electrical company with some amazing technology, the company was always a little ahead of the curb because of her work," John explained.

"And she knew Todd, which answers why he chose to trust you when he wouldn't another human," Woolsey finished.

"Yeah. At least she wasn't like that Romulus asshole who fathered Jack and Nancy," John shrugged. "Mom really did love Dave and I and she died of cancer. She _didn't _abandon us. I just kind of wish I knew _why, _you know?"

"You and me both. Well, we're expecting the IOA representatives shortly, shall we?" Woolsey gestured to the door.

John nodded and headed out. Woolsey went to the gate room, where the IOA was going to be beamed in and John headed for the detainment area with a squad of Marines to collect Todd. He smiled brightly when he saw Todd standing and waiting to be moved. There was no hint of resistance from Todd as they cuffed him and brought him out of the cell. The transfer to the infirmary was uneventful. John glanced up into the observation area and saw President Wallace standing next to Woolsey and Jack. Woolsey waved for John to go up into the observation room.

John gave a nod to Todd and the guards before following the indication. Once he was in the observation room, John joined the three of them. President Wallace smiled brightly at him, "A momentous day, isn't it? It's much nicer to be able to know there's a possibility of resolving this whole Wraith mess without committing to the destruction of an entire species. Instead, we help them evolve into something a bit… friendlier."

John nodded, "Did Mr. Woolsey tell you about our latest reveal from Todd, Madam President?"

"That most Wraith children don't _want _to feed on humans and are pretty much forced to for survival? Yes. I must admit it's a bit of a relief to learn that. It means we don't have to go killing the children. I cannot imagine trying to explain that to the world when we go public. We can take them, give them the retrovirus and allow them to live in a community of their own kind or ours depending on their choices," Wallace beamed, quite pleased. "Though, I understand that it's only the Wraith Commanders and Queens that are born from Queens? The rest, these drones, are cultivated?"

"Yes, as far as we know, Ma'am. They don't appear to have the same level of cognitive function that commanders and queens have," McKay answered as he joined them. "Also, they immerge from their 'pods' fully developed."

"Tell me Gen. Sheppard, you seem to be the person most familiar with Todd. What do you believe the odds are that he will turn his back on us once he gets what he wants with this retrovirus?" Wallace asked while eyeing John carefully.

"Well, I can't say it's impossible. Todd does have a history of trying to get more than he bargained for, but in this instance, I think it's slim that he will for a couple of reasons. The first is that Todd has already lost a whole hive to the first iteration of this retrovirus and apparently it took a week or so for the problems to become evident before he realized it. It's possible that he managed to keep how he lost the hive quiet, but it isn't likely that he was able to keep it completely unnoticed that he _did _lose a hive and the other Wraith have to be questioning how. Him popping up with the retrovirus would gain further questions and suspicions.

"The second is that he was betrayed by one of the last hives under his control and that's the one that attacked Earth. That tells me that it's unlikely that the few that remained are very loyal to him. In fact, that's happened to him a few times and from what I gather, he's rather sick of all the backstabbing. The third is that Todd has waited nearly ten thousand years to be free of the hunger. That's a long time to be hating what you are and still survive. I think it's probable that he will feel a sense of debt to us for giving him freedom from that hell," John stated firmly. "And finally, taking the retrovirus will make him a lot of Wraith enemies. They dislike anything 'different' from them, so Todd is essentially exiling himself from his own kind by doing this and willingly. That's part of why Michael was in isolation and went crazy. His time as a human altered his nature."

President Wallace eyed him before nodding, "And you believe he will be a genuine asset to the Atlantis Colony?"

"Oh, undoubtedly. Todd has already helped us a great deal. It's just that we've never been able to trust him before this because he had all those hives following him to fall back on. Now he doesn't and he _needs _us," Rodney remarked, munching one of the little tidbits that were being served in the room for the IOA representatives.

"Good. Gen. Sheppard, you know him better than most, so you will likely be able to pick up on it if he's about to betray us again, but for now… you are clear to treat him as a probationary member of the colony, is that understood?" Wallace asked.

"Perfectly, Ma'am. Personally, my hope is that Todd becomes a bit like Teal'c. If he does, then we can save at least the youngest generation of Wraith from such an awful fate. The older ones… well if they are of a similar mindset to Todd, we'll help them, but…" John drifted off with a shrug.

"You can't save everyone. Yeah, we had to come to terms with the same concept when it came to the Jaffa. And believe me, there were more than a few instances where Teal'c tried convincing someone that he knew that his path was the right path. In the end we succeeded though. The Jaffa are free from the Goa'uld," Jack stated reassuringly. "The Wraith can be freed from their hunger too."

John nodded, "That's very true. I'm sorry, Madam President, do you mind if I'm down in the infirmary? I want to be close by in case of any complications. Todd trusts me more than most people, so it could help things go more smoothly."

"Of course. We want things to go as smoothly as possible, General," Wallace responded, giving him a smile.

John nodded to her and the others before heading back down to the infirmary room being used for the procedure. Todd glanced over at John when he re-entered the room and seemed to relax slightly from where he was strapped to the gurney. Jennifer was already explaining how they intended to administer the retrovirus in stages, to avoid the body going into shock, rejecting the retrovirus, and to monitor each stage independently. She then explained that the first stage was to reactivate the full functions of the Wraith's stomach and gut. They watched as she gave the injection and then they waited a full hour while Todd sporadically jerked as his body began to utilize a part of him that hadn't been used in ten thousand years. His body healing the atrophied muscles.

John smiled in amusement when he heard Todd's stomach growl. Once it appeared that that transition had completed, Jennifer ran an Ancient scanner over him and smiled, "That was stage one. Stage two will be much more painful for the patient. This stage shuts down the enzyme production and will eliminate the enzyme pouch under his arm."

With that, she administered the next stage of the drug. It took three hours of Todd screaming in pain to subside, as the body altered itself. When Todd finally calmed down, John's expression was grim. He did _like _Todd after all, and so his obvious pain caused a bit of a tightening in John's chest that he refused to acknowledge was anything other than concern for a friend. Jennifer ran another scan and gave Todd an approving nod.

"Now that the enzyme pouch is gone, we can begin the final stage. This one shuts down the Wraith's feeding capabilities and removes the feeding hand while also switching his body's functions from reliance on feeding on the human life force back to the state it was for him as a young child when he sustained himself on food like you or I do. This stage is the longest and will likely be the most painful for him. However, once it is over, and he receives the final scans, he will be given food to eat and be able to absorb the necessary nutrients from it for the first time in thousands of years," Jennifer finished smugly before administering the third stage shots.

John flinched as Todd's screams started up again. Based on his jerking motions, John could only guess that his arm must have been killing him in terms of pain. It still wasn't as bad as the whole situation with Michael. _That _had only taken an hour, but while Todd screamed and was clearly in agonizing pain, he wasn't thrashing around so much that he required multiple people to restrain him. This part of the transition lasted four hours.

Once more Jennifer scanned him and smiled, "The _patient_, Todd, has now made the complete transition. We will be monitoring him over the next six months to ensure that there aren't any complications from the process, through a series of daily full-body scans. Thank you for attending." With that Jennifer relaxed and turned to Todd.

John smirked as he heard Jennifer mutter about removing the restraints and came forward to do it himself. Todd got up a bit stiffly, favoring his left arm where both the enzyme sack used to be as well as the former feeding hand. One of the nurses brought forward a tray with a bowl of a light chicken noodle soup. Jennifer smiled at Todd again, "We're gonna start you off nice and slow with eating. Wouldn't want to overwhelm your system by demanding too much of it all at once."

Todd nodded easily and once the tray was placed in front of him, he carefully and slowly began eating the soup. The process was painfully slow, but eventually Todd finished eating. He stopped a few times, seemingly to allow himself to process the food. After he finished, Todd was scanned once more. After that, they allowed the IOA members in and Todd received a battery of questioning. Now that he wasn't a 'serious threat' anymore, with his feeding hand removed, everyone wanted to interrogate him.

John had warned Todd this would happen, but Todd had merely stated it was understandable in response. There were a lot of repetitive questions, but Todd merely repeated the answers to them with ease. John had to admit that he was impressed how Todd was handling it all. Of course, since the IOA representatives were asking mostly questions that John already knew the answers to, it was a rather unsurprising situation for the most part. Still, Todd typically got growly at this point.

By the time it had ended, John was starving, having not eaten since breakfast that morning. He decided that Todd could probably use another light meal by that point, so he collected Todd and brought him to the mess hall. Rikki had retreated with Carter and Jack, John presumed to bond some more with her uncle. It was fine with him. Ronon also kept his distance, eating with Lorne's team for the evening, but McKay and Teyla both joined them. McKay had his plate loaded and was talking about all the plans he had for projects Todd could help on.

Teyla was quiet for most of the meal but responded whenever Rodney asked a question. Once dinner was eaten, John showed Todd to where he would be sleeping now. He was being assigned his own room and it was located in the same hall as John and Rikki's rooms were. He stopped at his room to grab a box that was wrapped up neatly with a bow on top. Then he finished bringing Todd to his room.

The room had been set up simply, with a bed, small couch, and TV set up. There was a dresser that, when Todd opened it, contained plenty of Earth style clothing for Todd to wear, "We had to guess at your size, but we figured it might make people a little more comfortable if you aren't constantly in leather. If these don't fit well, we can always arrange for more clothing before we leave for Pegasus."

Todd eyed the black t-shirt he lifted up and sighed, "Shall I test the fit now?"

"Your choice, though the sooner we know, the sooner we can arrange for more if needed," John stated.

He was startled when Todd immediately stripped, without any sense of modesty and put on the new clothing. John let his curiosity get the better of him and realized that, unsurprisingly really, Todd was built like a light-weight MMA fighter. It _was _surprising to John that he realized that he found Todd attractive, more so than he would have expected with the mild obsession that even he had to admit he had. That made him freeze. Fortunately, he managed to recover before Todd finished changing and Todd was none the wiser about his reaction. At least he hadn't had a more visceral reaction to go with it, because he wasn't in the mood to explain human sexuality, especially being bisexual or why Todd couldn't discuss _John _being bisexual with anyone.

"I believe this clothing will suffice. It appears to fit in a similar manner to what I see humans wearing," Todd stated, not noticing that John was slightly distracted.

"Hmm… Yeah, looks like it suits you," John stated enjoying the look of stone-washed black jeans and a black, long-sleeved t-shirt clinging to Todd's well-developed body. John forced himself to stop focusing on Todd's body. "There are pjs too, for you to sleep in. I'll…. I'll let you get some rest. The security detail will be right outside if you need anything and I'll see you in the morning. Oh, and this is for you."

John placed the box holding the Bible copies he had gotten for Todd. He had gotten him the Catholic version as well as New King James version, and the Koran so that Todd could compare the differences in denominations. He forced himself to wait for Todd to give a nod of understanding in response before leaving in a controlled manner. He didn't get a moment to consider the further implications of his realization before he got called to go talk with Woolsey and O'Neill. He headed straight to Woolsey's office. Woolsey smiled and waved for John to sit and since Jack was also sitting already, John easily did so.

"So, what's up?" John asked as he settled into the chair.

"Well, the IOA was very impressed with Todd's behavior. Mr. Chapman said that he was expecting a lot more hissing and growling, as if Todd were an animal, not an intelligent being. Fortunately, this means that they are comfortable for the current plans laid out for him. Obviously, they don't want him going anywhere off Atlantis at first, but once he has proven that he is loyal, Todd will be granted a probationary period on Gen. Sheppard's team, to see how he handles that. If he does well, we will rotate him through wherever he's needed," Woolsey stated.

Jack looked at John, "You're good with this strategy? No concerns about Todd?"

John shook his head, "He should obey anyone I tell him to, though if he's not with me, I'd prefer he be with someone like Lorne or one of the other Colonels for now. And we'll have to make sure that he _knows _he needs behave for them, even if he doesn't have to like it."

"Alright, I'll trust your gut on this one. I preferred Teal'c to stick with me. He was good muscle and great back-up. I imagine Todd will be as well," Jack shrugged easily. "Oh, we decided that pets would be allowed on Atlantis. Just cats, dogs and fish and the requirement is that they be cared for strictly by the owners, but we figured with the City becoming an actual city, it was only reasonable to allow it."

John nodded and chuckled, "I hope you're intending to provide the allergy medicine for those with allergies."

Jack shrugged, "That comes with the full benefits that are involved with working for Homeworld Security. Full medical, plus a guaranteed evac for five family members if the world is about to be destroyed and we have advanced warning are pretty damn powerful incentives for taking this kind of job."

"Yes, well it is a bit understandable for them to expect that considering what all these people are _risking _for the sake of our world on a regular basis," Woolsey remarked.

"Right, just Jack, no getting Rikki a pet. She is extremely distractible from everything that _isn't _her current research project. It's bad enough that, well, we have to make sure there are food deliveries and force her to sleep in her bed every few days. She _cannot _take care of a pet," John stated firmly. "Besides, she's never been much of a pet person to begin with. She never begged for one when she was younger or anything like that."

He watched in amusement as Jack looked a little disappointed, "Well there goes that idea for a present. What do you think would be good presents? I went with the Jaffa staff, because I thought it would go over well, but I don't want to give her stuff that makes it look like I'm trying to get information out of her."

"Honestly, the Zat gun and Jaffa staff weapon were great presents. If I know anything about my kid, she had a dozen ideas on how to analysis and improve them, probably with those MZPMs she invented," John stated. "Rikki is a creature of science, through and through, probably because she has so much Ancient in her. Hopefully, we can keep her from making the mistakes they did."

"I'm glad you brought that up, John. What _are _your overall thoughts on these Ancient conjugal visits?" Woolsey grabbed at the subject.

"It's a little unsettling. I mean, sure my mom stuck it out with my family, but did she have a family before us? If yes, what were they like? How many kids? Do I have half-siblings out there like Jack? What's more concerning is that we _know_ that Jack and Nancy's father has been bouncing around, having a kid, then bailing, we legitimately have no idea how many are out there, it's… insane," John stated.

Woolsey and Jack nodded in agreement, "It is a bit… unsettling to say the least. Problem is that we can't DNA test every person on the planet looking for familial matches. It would cause too many problems like invasion of privacy, for starters, never mind population numbers."

John nodded, "True, but that doesn't mean we can't run it against the military database. Actually, if we have over thirty people here with close relationships with the Ancients that we know of so far, I think it's safe to say we have a pattern. Roughly half of them are military officers, according to Beckett, and the other half are scientists. There's actually only one political person in our known group, but we all have one thing in common, we are all _damned _good at our jobs."

"You think there's a reason for that? I joined the military to help pay for college. ROTC is a great way to go if you want to get a degree. Then, I decided to make a career out of it when I found I loved the job," Jack stated.

"How many of those others who are military are gonna say something differently. We all excel at what we do. That's a pretty damn high statistic. Not one screw-up? In all the known cases of near Ancient descendants?" John pointed out.

"I wouldn't say that, exactly. Every one of us has some black mark on our records," Jack pointed out.

"A black mark yeah, but for what? Mine's because I disobeyed direct orders to rescue a friend in a downed Black Hawk. Yours is about rescuing people too. Lorne's was him following stupid orders from his commanding officer out of loyalty. All of them are the same, none of us did what we did without good reason, loyalty, because it was the right thing to do, that's why we didn't get discharged for it," John pointed out.

Jack conceded to him on that point, "Very true. So, we're looking for rebels who fight for the right cause? That's a lot of people still. That's basically half our recruiting requirement." Jack argued.

"True, for now, I propose testing any of the military personnel stationed on Atlantis against the existing Ancient Database, prioritizing those with black-marks on their records. Then we can determine if there _are _more people. Dr. Beckett has only done the test with those who were already on Atlantis to begin with," Woolsey suggested. "We have a much higher number now and it's entirely possible that we will find there are far more than thirty near relation descendants."

"I think that's fair enough. Any that come up as near relations to Ancients, I want at the top of my Jumper Flight training list. The more good pilots we have, the better off we are, especially once Rikki gets McKay's permission to backwards engineer more jumpers," John stated. "We'll be more of a presence in Pegasus too, now. With the numbers of troops we're getting, we can send several teams out daily, if not more."

"Very true. The higher your numbers, the more damage you can inflict on the Wraith. On that note, I think it's time for you guys to start actively attacking known Wraith occupied worlds. I believe the current project for Rikki and McKay is replicating the control chair for our ships and Earth?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, the IOA doesn't want us leaving Earth without a control chair. It's reasonable, given the circumstances. They just started on it though, so give them a few more weeks before they have anything concrete," John stated.

"It's terrifying how fast that girl works," Woolsey stated.

"Yeah, put her and McKay together and they're a powerhouse of brains. McKay is the fix it in a pinch guy and Rikki is the long-haul take a few weeks to design something from start to finish and make it even if it should be impossible type of girl," John smiled knowingly.

"You're enjoying having her around, aren't you?" Jack asked in amusement.

"Of course, I am. She's my daughter. I had to fight tooth and nail for the minimal contact that I _did _get with her, thanks to Nancy being a selfish bitch initially," John stated. "And Rikki's having a blast too."

Both the other men smiled in amusement. Jack looked at his watch, "Alright, so we got everything covered, Todd, the Ancient DNA debacle, no pets for Rikki. Anything else, Woolsey?"

"No, that's all we needed to go over. Though the pet thing was more personal than professional," Woolsey didn't look offended by the domination of John's daughter in the conversation.

Jack and John got up and left Woolsey with a simple goodnight. The conversation with Jack and Woolsey only occupied John's mind for roughly three seconds after he split-up with Jack to head back to his rooms. The mental image of Todd in the buff popped back into his head the second he was in the transporter. John shoved the mental image down in annoyance. He hit the marker for the transporter closest to his room and as soon as he was back out, and in his room, he groaned. Now that he _had _seen Todd in the nude, his brain wasn't letting it go.

What was worse was that he now knew that he was definitely physically attracted to the Wraith. He felt his member twitch and start to rise to the occation as the image kept forcing its way back into his brain. He decided that he wasn't going to win this battle and so he headed to his bathroom and got into the shower. He jerked himself off while imagining Todd being the one to do it. It probably wasn't the wisest decision he had made, but it was a damned nice relief of tension for the moment. He intentionally pushed away the thought of what it would be like if Todd were to go further than a hand-job though.

That was one place he _wasn't _going today. He toweled off and admitted that he probably shouldn't have given into the impulse to even jerk-off to Todd, since it what highly improbable that Wraith even viewed modesty the same way that humans did. He _was _glad that he had managed to conceal his mental thought process until he was safely in his own room, though, and Atlantis's walls were thankfully soundproof, so there was no chance of embarrassment.

Todd had found the loose-fitting pants with soft fabric and t-shirts labeled PJs, in another drawer and debated wearing them or not. Normally, on a Wraith Hive, he would sleep in the nude as they did not have such sleep wear avalible. Here, however, he suspected that people would frown on the practice, and he had become accustomed to wearing that awful outfit in the containments cell while he slept. Todd decided to try wearing them and if he found them uncomfortable, he would just strip down.

He smirked then, remembering John Sheppard's reaction when he stripped down in front of him earlier. He _knew _that humans had an odd sense of extreme modesty but didn't care. That modesty simply did not exist on a hive ship. Wraith commanders shared a large communal bathing chamber on their hives. Only the Queen, or in his hives, himself, had a private bathing chamber. He also wanted to know how John _would _react to seeing him in less clothing. John's reactions were, preliminarily, very positive.

It was true that while initially, his interest in John Sheppard had been purely a desire to rid himself of the hunger and a small, instinctual hope that John would know his mother's research and perhaps had arranged for them to be furthered, though admittedly that part wasn't fully conscious. Unfortunately, John hadn't even known his mother was an Ancient until recently. Fortunately, the humans had a similar mindset as Ata had, so he still reached his end goal. He had genuinely forgotten Ata's final promise of more than just freedom from the hunger though. A promise that at the time he had genuinely scoffed at. Now, it was seemingly more and more possible.

Still, his initial interest didn't account for a more visceral reaction to the human. He knew that humans didn't have nearly as high a rate of flexibility when it came to sexual interests, not like the Wraith did. Queens generally had no interest in each other only commanders and then only those that were sires, but it was frequent and even commonplace for Wraith Commanders to seek physical pleasure from each other. These couplings rarely resulted in long-term entanglements, though.

Most only lasted for a few weeks before they reached satisfaction and were done with that partner or if there was a lack of desire from one party, the commander moved onto someone else, not hard feelings. Those who did form lasting attachments were known as bond-mates and from them came the majority of Commanders and Queens born to hives. Queens could produce offspring once every hundred years or so. Bond-mates were highly revered because they could have offspring ever five years. These pairs were made up of one carrier and one non-carrier, or sire, and required a great deal to form in terms of the bond though.

Todd's physical interest in John… did not fade. At first, he thought that the human had less than friendly feelings towards Todd, only tolerating him for the benefit of Atlantis. However, several encounters later made Todd believe there was a slight possiblity that John shared a similar interest in him. John's invitation to be less formal with him and frequent visits during his imprisonment supported Todd's assessment. Now, Todd knew that John at least found him _physically _attractive.

Humans did not realize it, but even before they're bodies produce the more obvious symptoms of attraction, the more physical ones that can be noticed by the more attentive humans, they let off a subtle pheromone. It was something that they don't consciously pick up from other humans, but only were aware of on an instinctual level. Wraith, however, could smell it with ease. John had nearly staggered him with the amount he released when Todd was changing.

It was promising, but Todd had no way of knowing if John would be able to step back from his general view of Todd's species enough to allow for anything between them to occur. He may not be willing to admit _what _exactly he was feeling, but Todd knew that on an instinctual level, there was nothing that Todd would not do to ensure the preservation of John's life, and by extension, his daughter's life. The girl who looked unnervingly like Ata.

Still, things could be far worse. John could have reacted with revulsion like Dr. McKay and Ronon Dex did. It was a step in the right direction, but a far cry from the requirements of bond-mates. That required genuine affection, trust, respect, as well as physical desire and finally some unknown quantity that no wraith could determine unless they felt it and even then there was on word to describe it. Todd felt this way towards John but knew that it was possible that John did not now, nor perhaps ever reciprocate. It was likely that he never would and thus Todd's situation would only ever be one-sided. This would leave Todd perpetually locked into a longing that would end only when they both died.

Todd forced himself to lay down and memorize John's expression when he looked at him after finishing dressing. The human may not have realized it, but while he hadn't had a visceral reaction to seeing Todd's body, he _had _shown signs of arousal. In addition to releasing the pheromone, his pupils had dilated, and John's expression was of lust, though, he may not have been aware of it.

That was an image he hoped to one day see repeatedly. Of course, it was likely a day long off. John would not admit to it easily, he suspected, to himself. Perhaps not ever, but Todd could hope. He now had reason to hope. Todd held up his left hand, his feeding hand, or rather what _was _his feeding hand. Without that curse, perhaps John might accept him fully. Todd shut his eyes and dropped his hand. He allowed the mental image of John drag him off into pleasant dreams of what might be possible now. What Ata had once promised would come to pass and Todd had scoffed at the possibility of it ever occurring.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 6: Homecoming

It took Rikki and Rodney two weeks to backwards engineer the control chair and another two to use the Asgard Core to recreate it as well as drones, which was easier. In that time, Rikki's friend, Dr. Thomas Richards, had gotten his security clearance, pushed through by Carter. He was assigned to help Zelenka, who was happy to get an assistant of his own, to John's amusement. John was pleased to learn that Todd had been a model scientist during that time. He had been assigned a lab and McKay had instructed him to work on the nanites for repairing damage to humans, so it was a viable medical treatment, and not a risk like the previous model was when it had been injected into Jeannie.

Todd had done exactly as instructed, working off the original material, but improving it significantly. The final step for everyone else, before they could leave for Pegasus, was to copy all the data from the Ancient control chair to the newly created one. After some debate, it was eventually decided that it would be best to have Rikki and John share the task because they were the two most compatible with each other and the neural network due to their genetics.

John took the original, while Rikki took the new chair. John eyed his daughter with a smirk before the two of them activated the chairs. Rikki felt like she was drifting for a moment before the first bits of information started flowing through her mind to the chair that she was sitting in. During the process, Rikki realized that her mind was being treated more as a conduit rather than a processor. Sh had a lot of room for thinking during the whole thing and noticed even that she could feel her father's mind.

In some ways, his was similar to hers, his mind analyzing everything even as he drifted as well. He was just as curious as she was, just about different things. His flexibility about different cultures came from his desire to learn more about people. For the first time, Rikki realized what her parents had in common. Their love of new experiences. It merely manifested in different ways, in them and in Rikki herself.

It was an interesting revelation to her. John was feeling an intense amount of emotion from the fact that, for the first time ever, he could really _understand _his daughter's mind. He had some comprehension before, being considered a genius himself, but he didn't understand exactly _how _active her mind was. He could tell even as they transferred the data over to the second chair, that Rikki's mind wandered even more than his did. The transfer was almost secondary, so simple that it required minimal effort, as far as he could tell. It took them two hours for the full download. The two got a little bored during the process and it was Rikki who decided to start a conversation between them.

It was mostly mundane things. Jack had brought her a Goa'uld healing device to backwards engineer when she had the time. He wanted to make it so that anyone, not just those with Naquadah in their bloodstream could use the devices. John asked if Rikki thought it was possible. Rikki answered that she suspected that it was more so that the Goa'uld had them designed to prevent non-Goa'uld from being able to use it, so it would likely be an easy work around. Some of the information was transferred as images and concepts while other bits were transferred as words. It led to a very odd mode of conversation, but one that both parent and child found fascinating.

When the two came out of the chairs' trance-like state they went into for the transfer, McKay was looking at them with genuine confusion. John found that hilarious because McKay didn't look confused very often. Rikki eyed him with concern, never having seen him confused before, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… what the hell were you two doing in there? At first the readings were high, but within the expected parameters. Then, about forty minutes in they skyrocketed, and you guys had some funky brain waves going on," McKay stated, clearly annoyed now.

"We were just talking, Rodney. We realized that the whole thing connected our minds and got bored with the just watching a transfer that was basically doing itself, so we started talking," Rikki explained, plenty comfortable with McKay now to call him by his first name.

"You… you talked, through the connection between the two chairs? Mentally?" Rodney looked like he had an aneurism. "Do you have any idea what you two have done?!"

"Calm down, Rodney. It's not world ending. We just talked. If you think about it, it makes sense that we can talk through the connection. I mean the chairs were _intended _to be linked. It makes sense that we can communicate between them when the damned things are physically linked and right next to each other," John snapped. Unwilling to get dragged into Rodney's scientific thought process. He needed to ensure that the Jaffa, who had arrived just a few weeks ago were settled in fully, among other things.

"But…" Rodney tried to protest.

"Don't you have to go through _all _the labs to ensure that everything is properly secured for our trip tomorrow? And Rikki needs to work with Zelenka and Richards to check over all the systems, doesn't she?" John pointed out.

"But the chair is being relocated to Cheyenne Mountain this afternoon! And we're leaving tomorrow! I need more data on this!" Rodney looked borderline ready to mutiny.

"Rodney, you have an hour and twenty minutes of data already. Go run an analysis on that, after you run your checks of the labs, before pestering us for more data. I'm sure you guys can create another control chair when we get to Pegasus to do all the testing you like," John stated, getting up from the chair. It wasn't exactly designed for personal comfort of the user which John found a little annoying. "Though if you do, do me a favor and make the chair more comfortable. The flashy lights make the thing look interesting, but it's hard as a rock and not fun to be in for hours at a time."

Rodney deflated, "Fine. I suppose it won't be too much trouble for us to whip up another chair. We could attach it to the Daedalus or something."

"There you go. That's a great idea. The Daedalus would become even deadlier and the Wraith definitely wouldn't see that coming," John stated. "Now, I need to go check on the Jaffa, and go over a lot of paperwork for about all the last-minute things needed for more than fifteen thousand men and women and their families. It was hell getting them all accommodated."

Rikki shrugged, "I need to go work with Radek and Tom now. We need to get the systems checks started now if we want to go to bed at a reasonable hour." She left without asking, John presumed to get to work.

McKay grumbled about Rikki leaving so briskly. John rolled his eyes and left without second thought, knowing that if McKay was going to grumble about one Sheppard, he may as well grumble about both while John was dealing with his job. He was passed by Carter as he left. John assumed she was there to collect the new control chair.

The remainder of his day was spent running all around the city. He had to check in their second armory, where a brand-new arsenal of blasters and lightsabers were stored. They were designed to look almost identical to P-90s, but they were capable of both stunning and firing plasma blasts and the kind of plasma blasts that came out of them made the Jaffa staff weapons obsolete. John knew that his daughter was working a side project of modifying the staff weapons for the Jaffa so that they had weapons they felt comfortable with, but with greater fire power, too.

He also checked in with the Jaffa, who were being led by Teal'c of all people. Teal'c stated that he simply wished for his people to survive free of any scourge and that meant he had to oversee the warriors that would be fighting the Wraith personally. John accepted it. The advantage to having Teal'c on Atlantis was not lost on him. The man was a force to be reckoned with on his own. With a group of well-trained Jaffa, John had no doubt he would create a new level of fear among the Wraith. The Jaffa were just as strong as the Wraith were, but they had been trained to think independently to an extent, while the Wraith Commanders were ingrained in obeying Hive Queens and drones didn't really think for themselves at all. Todd was the exception to that rule.

John ended up finding Teal'c and a good chunk of Jaffa warriors with Todd and, to John shock and surprise, Ronon. Todd and Ronon were sparring, that wasn't surprising. What was, was that it seemed to be an instructional match, rather than a pitched to the death kind of fight. Ronon and Todd were demonstrating common fighting technics of Wraith and how to counter them. The Jaffa were all watching with intent, taking in each movement with keen eyes. The way they silently observed was a little unnerving.

John sidled up to Teal'c, "How did you get the two of them to work together so peacefully? Todd and Ronon are usually at each other's throats. I mean, Todd is only hostile to Ronon because Ronon hates him, but Ronon hates all Wraith. He only just barely tolerates Todd because he has to. I'm hoping eventually they'll get alone but it's a long time off."

"I encountered the two of them already in a sparring match that was quite heated and questioned if they be willing to demonstrate Wraith combat technics and how to counter them for my men. Ronon, I believe, agreed to my request out of respect due to our prior combat experience. Todd, as you call him, agreed even more willingly, though I'm not entirely certain why," Teal'c stated. "It took O'Neill a great deal of time to persuade me to show him any fighting technics of the Jaffa, and then, only because he had become a good friend."

"Ah, well, you see, Todd's already on really thin ice with the IOA, Woolsey, even me to an extent, so he knows that he has to play as nice as he can if he wants to get to better ground, so to speak," John stated.

Teal'c nodded, "So, he wishes to earn your approbation by sharing the fighting style of his people?"

"Well, we actually have a pretty good idea of how the Wraith fight. We have been up against them for six years now, and Ronon and Teyla are experts in fighting them. Todd knows that. So, it's more that he knows it's pointless to refuse and it earns him brownie points if he doesn't," John explained.

"I see. It is to his benefit to assist us in learning then. I am still uncertain _why _he would choose to side with your cause though. If I'm not mistaken, that is like an Ori taking the Tau'ri's side or a Goa'uld choosing to fight for the Jaffa cause. It would not occur without good reason," Teal'c stated.

"Ah, well, you see, Todd wants to end the cruelty towards the youth of his species. They are reluctant to feed on humans and are forced to feed or starve at an insanely high mortality rate. Now, granted they are legitimately designed to survive that way, but they all hate it when they're young, and Todd never got over that hatred of feeding on humans. It's why he was so willing to take the retrovirus," John filled in.

Teal'c gave him a raised eyebrow and a questioning, "Indeed?"

John got the feeling that Teal'c didn't entirely believe that sentiment, but what other motive _could _Todd have? It wasn't to his advantage to take the retrovirus from any other angle. Rikki had pointed that out to him. So, he just nodded firmly and gave a sarcastic, "Indeed." Right back to Teal'c.

Teal'c cracked a smile and nodded to Todd and Ronon, "They are both extremely proficient, however I sense that Todd is holding his strength back a great deal. Far more so than Ronon is."

"Yeah, the Wraith are definitely stronger than humans. They probably fight on a similar level to the Jaffa, so it will be interesting to see Todd go up against someone like you. I don't think I've ever seen Todd go all out against humans except when we were escaping from that rouge Genii facility," John explained. "Then, he was seriously lethal."

Teal'c accepted this with a nod, "Is there a purpose in your seeking me out, Gen. Sheppard?"

"Yeah, how are you guys all settling in? We're leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure that you guys have everything that you need before we go," John turned to his main purpose.

"Well, I believe that Dr. Keller has a large supply of Tretonin and an easy means of creating more with the Asgard Core installed on Atlantis. Our families have been provided sufficient accommodations. We are looking at potentially more powerful weapons in the near future, with your daughter's work on upgrading our staff weapons. We have been treated fairly and with respect by everyone we have encountered thus far. We are being given ample opportunity to learn the enemy's methods of fighting. I believe we are quite satisfied at present," Teal'c stated with a firm nod.

John smiled, "Excellent. Let me know if that changes. I have to go check in with all my Colonels as well."

Teal'c gave John a nod of understanding before turning back to observe the match between Todd and Ronon once more. John turned around after a final look at Todd and Ronon going hand-to-hand. He had to admit, that Todd moved particularly gracefully as he fought, even when it was teaching others the way that Wraith fought. He forced himself not to focus on how _good _Todd looked in BDUs.

The uniform was less concealing then his Wraith clothing ever was. He had to remember it wasn't allowed, even if Todd was one of them now. There were still laws that hadn't been changed, though he knew that it was possible that they could be sooner rather than later. Wallace struck John as a rather liberal minded president. Even then, he had no idea if Todd was even into that sort of thing. Never mind that it had been a point of contention for the negotiations for the military since France, Germany, and the UK allowed LGBTQ people to serve openly already.

John instead focused on making the rounds, checking with all the Colonels, here and there over the city. Thankfully, they all were under orders to keep their comms in, so John called each individually, checked where they were and then went to them. He had similar conversations with all the Colonels that he had within the city but one. The U.S. Army Colonel, William Cole complained about the lack of inclusivity of the Army up until then. He stopped just short of claiming he should be at least John's XO if not in charge of Atlantis. John made a mental note to talk to Lorne about keeping an eye on the man.

He didn't need to worry about Col. Cole trying to start a mutiny. There was no way his people would be moronic enough go along with it. In comparison, the Russian, French, German, and UK Colonels were all happy to have been selected for the assignment. John asked them why and they explained that up until that point, the U.S. Military was the only one allowed to properly represent Earth on an intergalactic scale. They pointed out that different military perspectives could help with the long-term battle.

John stated that he would be willing to listen to all ideas and strategies suggested, but when it came to the Wraith, he was among the few who knew how to efficiently hit them where it hurts the most. Col. Petri Romanov, the Russian Colonel nodded, "I presume you've been using guerrilla warfare. It's smart. Keeps you alive when there are greater numbers to the enemy. I am guessing ve'll be doing a lot more of that. However, ve should start making preemptive strikes now, now that our numbers are more than quintupled what they were, and ve have ample fire power to put behind the attacks."

"Believe me, I've been thinking the same thing. I want to throw a little coming home party for the Coalition, remind them we haven't abandoned them. I was thinking a staged ambush. I would love to work out the details with _all _the colonels under my command," John stated to the man.

He got a nod and vicious smile of agreement from Col. Romanov, "I will be delighted to attend such a meeting, sir." John got the feeling that the man would relish the prospect.

Overall, the only complaints came from the U.S. Army. In addition to Cole being annoyed that he wasn't the superior officer, he apparently had an issue with having to work with the Jaffa and Todd. John decided that Cole was likely a certified idiot and would probably get killed off quickly when they got to Pegasus but didn't bother voicing the sentiment. He didn't want the xenophobic ass to get the idea that he wasn't anything other than considerate. Instead, he pointed out that Todd knew how best to fight the Wraith, but if Cole and his men didn't feel comfortable working with him or the Jaffa, Ronon and Teyla could always give them insight into how to fight the Wraith as well.

He made note of the expression of distaste at asking Teyla or Ronon for help on Cole but at least the man was wise enough not to say anything against the two. Probably because they were human. Col. Guy Bisset of the French Army, Col. Sophia Becker of the German Army, Col. Rebecca McDougal of the HMR Army, and Col. Thomas Bennet of HMR Marines were all similar to the mentality of Col. Romanov. As long as John listened to their input and took it under serious consideration, they would be fine following his orders. They were wise enough to know that you don't toss out the person who knows how to fight the enemy best just to stroke a few imbecilic egos.

Col. McDougal was a rough and tumble Scotswoman who John found hilarious because she was as tough as nails but commented on how handsome Beckett was. Apparently, the woman had a thing for doctors that were a 'soft touch'. John told her that Beckett could be firm when he had to be and got a smug look, "Oh, I hope so, sir. They're no fun if they give in too easily to everything." She remarked in a sultry voice.

John resisted the urge to burst into laughter, knowing that Beckett would find his hands full with that one. John suspected that Col. McDougal's team would be doing a lot of escort missions with Beckett as he made the medical rounds on various planets. Once he finished his rounds with all the others, he went and found Lorne.

The man smiled at him, in their office, typing away, undoubtedly working on paperwork, "How did it all go, sir?"

"Keep an eye on Col. Cole. He's expressed his dissatisfaction at not being my XO and has shown clear signs of Xenophobia. I don't want his ass being kicked by the Jaffa or Todd and then him doing something stupid about it," John stated, taking his seat and getting his computer up and running so he could get through _his _paperwork.

"Yes, Sir. Off the record, sir, how long do you think he'll last against them?" Lorne asked quietly, not bothering to specify who 'them' was.

John shook his head, "I'm thinking we need to assign him the least dangerous, politically or physically, assignments. His group can take care of the botany and archaeology scientists on their abandoned planets with plants and artifacts. I don't want him doing something stupid like pissing off the Genii or the Wraith killing his entire team his first trip through the gate."

"Yes, sir. I'll make sure to keep that in mind when working the duty rooster. Anything else?" Lorne asked.

"Yeah, Col. McDougal has a thing for Beckett. If she requests to be assigned to Beckett's humanitarian efforts, let her go. It'll be a load off my back because I get the feeling that she'd take the job seriously, and Beckett needs a love life," John stated earning a chuckle from Lorne. "Also, we won't have to listen to Stackhouse grumble about being the one always assigned to Beckett then."

"Will do, sir. How are Colonels Romanov, Becker, Bisset, and Bennet's people settling in?" Lorne asked typing away still.

"Oh, they're having a blast. Col. Bisset and Col. Bennet both looked like Christmas had come early when they learnt we had functional lightsabers for those that knew how to handle a sword. Apparently, they're enthusiasts of the art of sword work. Col. Bennet's parents were both historians and he learnt how to fight medieval style when he was a kid. Col. Bisset just loves fencing. I want them to be tested against Ronon before we hand any lightsabers over to them, but I don't see a problem at present. Upside is, that if they really are as good as they claim, we have two more sword teachers for getting more people trained," John stated. "Col. Romanov and Col. Becker are just happy to finally get to join the party. I told them about the sparring session going on between Ronon and Todd and they looked like they both wanted to cut our conversation short to go watch, so I did it for them."

"So, our only real problematic Colonel is Cole. That's good. It is easier than watching them all intently. Oh, Gen. O'Neill told me to have you call him when you were avalible. He said as long as you did before two, it was fine," Lorne stated.

John sighed and made the call. O'Neill stated that he had some last-minute business to deal with before they left for Pegasus and to have all the Colonels ready for a late afternoon meeting. John confirmed that he would and then relayed the information to the Colonels. For the remainder of the time spent up until the meeting John did paperwork.

He and Lorne got to the conference room a half hour early and speculated what it was going to be about, but John shrugged, "Probably some last-minute regulations to install. I know there were a few heated debates over conflicting policies for the various countries that are contributing people. O'Neill probably got a few sorted out before we needed to leave."

Lorne nodded, "I guess that makes sense."

O'Neill arrived a short while later, his expression amused, "So, we got a few of the hitches that still lingered sorted out. These are the new standing policies for all military personnel in Atlantis, regardless of country of origin, effective immediately. Read through it before the others get here."

John nodded and opened the file Jack handed to him while Lorne did the same. The first few items were expected. They were things like allowing freer information exchange between military members from different countries or how the chain of command worked. It wasn't until the third item that John froze, his heart in his throat, "Sir…"

"Ah, yeah. Those two were on the insistence of the UK, German, and French governments, though President Wallace wasn't against it either. It was only Russia that put up a fight about it, but they caved eventually. After all, this is a long-term assignment in another galaxy and we need to set a good example to the less advanced cultures," Jack stated with a smug look.

Lorne sputtered, "All LGTBQ military members may be in open relationships now. No need to hide their sexuality or gender orientation and we're softening the anti-fraternization regulations? That's a lot to take in, sir."

"Yeah, well the anti-fraternization regs are only slightly loosened up. You can have a relationship with someone with one rank above or below you now so long as they aren't under your command, but Officers still can't date Enlisted and that whole thing. However, yes, all LGTBQ can now be open and have relationships," O'Neil stated firmly. "It's being publicly announce in the US next week, and Russia will be announcing it in a month, but it's effective immediately on Atlantis since you lot will be leaving tomorrow."

John nodded, "Understood, sir. I'll make sure there's no discrimination, regardless of who or where it's coming from."

"Good. We may not want to admit it, but we _need _these forces in the Pegasus and we need the diplomatic leverage it gives us," Jack responded.

They fell quiet when Col. Beker joined them and smiled. She was a pleasant woman, John admitted. She was no non-sense, but not like some others who were hard asses about it. More like a mother who had eyes in the back of her head. The other Colonels joined them, Cole arriving barely on time, and John suspected that he would have been late if it weren't for it being O'Neill calling the meeting.

"Right, well, we have a few last-minute policy changes before your departure. These are your paper copies. E-mails will be sent out from my office tomorrow first thing to all Atlantis personnel informing them of the changes. They are to be respected and enforced and are in effect immediately," O'Neill stated firmly as he handed out files to everyone.

The Colonels all spent a few minutes reading, though Cole was the first to sputter and John suspected that he knew what about, "Is there a problem, Col. Cole?" Jack asked before John could.

"Are we sure it's wise to allow for Don't Ask, Don't Tell to be dropped, sir? I understand loosening the anti-frat regulations given the length of this mission, but Don't Ask, Don't Tell is in place for a reason," Cole stated firmly.

"A very obsolete reason, Cole. We're in the twenty-first century. We are all aware of things like the Ori and Goa'uld and Wraith and know that we weren't created by a god but by the Ancients, which makes the Bible a work of fiction. Maybe Jesus and Moses were an Ancient's kids and those parts are true or based off the truth, but we don't know for certain. What we do know is that humanity, in both the Milky Way and the Pegasus Galaxy, was created in the image of the Ancients, not some mythical god. So, any religious arguments get thrown out the window on that alone," Jack stated firmly.

"It's not natural, sir. Those couplings can't produce babies," Cole attempted to argue.

"You did not just use _that_ argument, Col. Cole. Zere are over two thousand species of animals with documented cases of homosexuality but only one with Homophobia. Which sounds more unnatural to you? Ve get it, you do not like gay people. Our governments aren't saying ve have to like it, ve just have to tolerate it, and respect that our personal opinions don't alvays coincide with those of our superiors," John was surprised when it was Col. Romanov who snapped harshly at Cole before anyone else could. It had been the Russian government resisting that change in the first place.

"Well said, Col. Romanov. I heard yer country was the one putting up the fuss about the changes, but I'm glad that you can see things more reasonably," Col. McDougal stated with a nod of approval.

"I vas selected for my… openness of mind as vell as my leadership skills. This assignment requires a great deal of flexibility that many of my comrades back home lack. My flexibility has resulted in my being given a good position, so I am not going to stab myself in the back by failing to accept policy changes that have nothing to do with me personally, but I know will undoubtedly make some of my comrades extremely happy. Happy men and women have higher motivations to do their jobs vell because they have less reason to feel resentment and more reason to live for. That makes them fight better, harder. They have no reason to live, they give up on living, they let themselves be killed. That means less men or women fighting with their full force and that, Col. Cole is the difference between victory and defeat," Col. Romanov stated with a glare at the man.

Cole fell silent but glowered. John glanced at Lorne who nodded. John knew that meant that Lorne would keep an eye on the situation between those two. Cole was starting to really strike John as the kind of nitwit that didn't realize how fucked he was until he had dug his hole fifty feet deep with no way out. Col. Romanov… well John wasn't certain if the man just knew where his fortunes lay, or he was just that liberal minded. If it was the former, he wasn't likely to cause a massive fight with Cole, on sheer principle. If it was the latter, well… they were about to witness a possible feud and John wasn't going to allow that to happen. If worst came to worst, he would arrange for Cole to be transferred off Atlantis.

Jack gave John a knowing look before turning to the Colonels, "All these policies are effective immediately on Atlantis. In a week, President Wallace will announce that Congress has repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell effective immediately. Thankfully, the Senate and House are both aware of how vital our mission in the Pegasus Galaxy is, and they are willing to allow a very basic repeal of the law, replacing it with a law allowing for all LGTBQ community members to serve openly in the military. This includes transgender individuals. Those service members will be given uniforms that are suited to their gender of identification. However, that being said, this _does not _mean you can force someone under your command to come out publicly if they choose not to. It is _their _choice. Is that clear?"

There was a round of nods, though Cole's was reluctant. Bisset, Becker, McDougal, and Bennet were all perfectly happy with that, as it was only a minor modification to their policies on LGTBQ service members at most. Romanov shrugged, with his nod. He had made his opinion clear already. Cole was actively glaring at Romanov though. John decided he would have to nip any problems that may arise in the bud.

"Good. Now, the Russian Government will follow about a month after in their announcements of legalizing service of LGTBQ members. Any questions about any of the other policies?" Jack asked, glancing around the room.

"Yes, this policy on family members being given transmitter beacons for emergency evacuations. It has been adjusted from five to seven, what's that about?" Col. Bisset asked.

"Every person who is in the Stargate Program, whether it is a scientist, or a military member, is permitted a certain amount of people who they can list as 'priority family members' that means that in the event that Earth has a necessary evacuation because we believe that it's about to be destroyed with no hope of saving it, we evacuate the people on that list. Each person is given a microscopic transmitter injected with a 'vaccine' during a medical appointment with certain doctors. These transmitters allow us to lock onto that person with our transporters and beam them to the SGC, where they will be gated to a secure, safe off world location.

"If Earth does end up being destroyed, it's likely that they will be temporarily sent to our Alpha site before sending them on to Atlantis, as the city is massive and still has lots of space to accommodate people as needed. All of this should have been explained to you when you were entered into the program and gave your list of people. However, it's been decided to allow two more people per a Stargate Program Member because we now have Atlantis as a safe haven due to the new upgrades that are being made, including an ample supply of ZPMs and a better chance of secure land for growing necessary crops if Earth is destroyed," O'Neill explained.

Bisset nodded in understanding, "A capability to expand the capacity has allowed you to expand on your list."

"Exactly, and of course, in such an event, the more people we can save, the better," John finished bluntly.

Everyone nodded in agreement at that. From there, they discussed a few other topics, just standard organization. John confirmed that while all the Colonels and their people answered to him for major decisions, ultimately, the day to day running of their groups would be left to the Colonels for their respective branches of military. After that, everyone was permitted to leave to go to sleep. Jack stopping for a final goodbye with Rikki.

The next morning was pure chaos, with last minute checks of everything. Eventually, though, the launch time neared and John headed down to the control chair room while Rikki and McKay went to the Control Tower, to monitor the launch. One of the modifications that they had made, was to combine the cloaking and shielding, so that they could both be active at the same time. It did require a much larger power draw from the ZPMs but that wasn't a problem anymore.

John checked his watch and noted it was ten minutes to launch. He heard Woolsey give everyone a general announcement to find their seats. John knew that most of the population of Atlantis was currently on the eastern side of Atlantis, as that was where the view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge was. He knew that Teyla and Ronon, with TJ, had even staked out excellent seats of the view that morning while most people were still running around.

He settled into the Control Chair and began his own diagnostics. The Hyper and Wormhole Drives were both up and fully operational. The Daedalus was already in orbit, ready for the jump once Atlantis was out of Earth's atmosphere. Woolsey gave a five-minute warning and then, for fun, John decided to make an airline joke.

"Good morning, Passengers. This is your General speaking. The weather is clear as we are preparing for takeoff which will hopefully mean minimal turbulence. Please take note of your emergency exits which will be entirely useless this flight since we will be traveling approximately 3 million light-years through space in approximately five seconds of time and space is a vacuum that is not survivable to humans, Jaffa, or Wraith. Our total flight time, including take-off and landing is estimated to take roughly thirty minutes. Please remain seated for the duration of the trip, as leaving and entering planet atmosphere can lead to a great deal of turbulence. Thank you for choosing Atlantis Intergalactic for your trip to the Planet Lantea," John finished. Woolsey was chuckling as he gave the one-minute warning and John started powering up the sub-light engines.

He got a final reminder from McKay to ease out of the water slowly, or he risked creating a small tidal wave that would hit San Francisco. John pointed out that he knew that and not to worry. He eased Atlantis out of the water an inch at a time, his mind connected to all part of Atlantis, allowing him to access to the knowledge of exactly how much water was being displaced and how quickly. It took him about five minutes to safely ease the city out of the water and high enough above the water to put full power behind the sub-light engines.

The sensation of Atlantis leaving the atmosphere was one that he had only felt a few times before, but John always felt that there was little that was more exhilarating to him. Even though he didn't have a view at a window like everyone else, he could still see the city of San Francisco as they departed Earth, it was likely a far more breathtaking view than anyone watching from the windows could see.

Still, they had a galaxy to get back to and a war to win. John powered up the wormhole drive and sent them through to the Lantean star system as soon as they were out of the atmosphere. They popped out the other end about five minutes from Lantea by sub-light. From there it was a matter of controlled reentry. This was probably the most complex part of the process. He maneuvered the city into position and then angled it so that it was coming in at enough of an angle to slow the decent but not so much that it skipped on the atmosphere. He could almost feel the flames of the reentry flickering over the shields. Fortunately, those were at full power with three almost completely charged ZPMs.

Once he had the city down in the atmosphere, the thrusters were used to slow the city's decent further and then he navigated it to close to where it had been located previously on the planet, only this time, much closer to the mainland and where they had their warehouses of Naquadah and Trinium. John was borderline humming with energy as he settled the city down about the same distance from the shoreline as it had been from San Francisco. Once the water around the city settled, the shields were brought down.

"We have just achieved touch down on the plane of Lantean. You may leave your seats and move about the city once more, and once again, everyone here at Atlantis Intergalactic thanks you for choosing us for your trip. McKay, we're settled in, I put us a little closer to the mainland this time so that we can arrange for all that transportation for farming purposes a little easier," John stated with amusement as he got up out of the chair.

His body felt like live wire every time he used the chair like that. Of course, John didn't bother telling anyone else that, he knew that Beckett, Lorne, and McKay all complained about how exhausting interfacing with the whole city was. He suspected that Rikki, Jack, and possibly Nancy, if she ever came to Atlantis, would view things the way he did.

Still, he had energy to burn off, and decided that sparring would be a good way to manage it. He went to look for Ronon and see if he could talk his friend into sparring, however, when he found him, Ronon was with Teyla gearing up, "Right, you two are going to check on New Athos. I had been hoping to spar, but that can wait. Kannan must be worried sick. Are you taking TJ with you?"

"No, we thought we would check to ensure that everything was alright first. If it is, then we are going to invite Kannan and Halling to come back and visit for a bit. That way if something _has happened _that we didn't know about, there wouldn't be any risk to Torren," Teyla explained, before gaining a knowing smirk. "I'm sure you could persuade Todd to spar though. I am certain he would not mind."

"Don't encourage him, Sheppard already spends too much time with Todd," Ronon gruffly inserted.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment, John left them with McKay dialing the gate for them. John decided that Teyla's suggestion had merit, regardless of what Ronon thought, and was about to go look for Todd when he got stopped by Woolsey.

"Ah, General Sheppard, just the man I was looking for. I was thinking that Teyla and Ronon had the right idea of things and we need to contact all of our allies as soon as possible to reassure them and let them know we have fully and completely returned to Pegasus, and this time, we have little need of leaving," Woolsey stated. "I was hoping you would be willing to go with the group that would see to the Genii, as they can be a bit tricky and I would meet with the council of the Coalition."

"Uh… yeah… sure. That makes sense. I'll take Lorne's and Stackhouse's teams with me to be on the safe side. I'll even have Lorne demonstrate our fancy new lightsabers for them, so they know that it wasn't just a frivolous trip to Earth. We got some serious upgrades," John remarked with a smirk. He hated the Genii, they were too unreliable as allies, but they were technically 'allies' so it made sense that they reached out and contacted them. "I guess I had better get geared up."

"Excellent, I was thinking that I would take Col. Cole and Col. Bisset's teams myself," Woolsey stated eagerly in response.

John shook his head and countered Woolsey softly so that the people around them wouldn't overhear, "Take Romanov, not Cole. From what I've observed, Cole's… not someone I would want to risk politically undermining you. I get the feeling the man is xenophobic, he's definitely homophobic."

Woolsey gave John a raised eyebrow at this but nodded, "Romanov and Bisset it is. The French and the Russian teams. At least I'm comfortable with both languages."

John nodded, "I had better go get geared up."

"Right, me too," Woolsey stated before walking off. John commed Lorne, Stackhouse, Romanov, and Bisset to have their teams gear up.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: So, please be aware that I wrote this chapter WELL before Covid-19 was a twinkle in its grandma's eye (several months ago). As such, I did not anticipate the world ACTUALLY falling apart while posting this chapter. Nor that did I anticipate that it might trigger writers block for this story. I Still have a few more chapters written and WILL post them weekly as well as whatever I do manage to write. However, there are other stories that are way less depressing in the current climate that might take over my mind since they are far, far happier. My apologies in advance. **

Chapter 7: Chaos Reigns Supreme

Col Samantha Carter liked to believe that she was a rational and calm woman most of the time. She was a woman of science at heart, for all that she was also an Air Force Colonel. That being said, she made the First Lieutenant repeat himself three times to be sure she heard the man correctly. Once she was sure she had, she pushed him out of the way and read the scans herself before swearing, "There has to be a thousand ships. What could they possibly want with us? These read as similar to Ori, but not exactly the same. What the hell?" She got out of the seat and immediately contacted Jack and Laundry.

"_O'Neill speaking_," Jack's voice sounded first in the three-way call that Sam initiated.

"_Laundry here, what's wrong?" _Laundry asked immediately.

"Sirs, we have a very big problem and a very tiny window of opportunity to save as many people as possible. Our deep space scanners just picked up roughly a thousand ships of Ori or similar design headed for Earth. The scans indicate they will be here in maybe three hours best case scenario," Sam stated dread filling her voice.

Both the men on the other lines swore in unison, though their phrasing was a bit different. Jack swore in a mixture of Jaffa, Latin, and English, due to prolonged exposure to Daniel, Teal'c, and one too many Ancient archive devices, leading him to sound like a man squawking gibberish. Meanwhile Laundry swore like a southern gent who had just learnt a man had killed his prized through bred horse.

"_We're certain they're headed here_?" Jack asked finally, when he ran out of Jaffa swears.

"The only other inhabitable planet within our sector of the Milky Way was Abydos and Anubis destroyed that planet. So, yeah, I would say it's a safe bet they're headed here, because you don't send a force like that unless you are planning on annihilating something and we are the only somethings to annihilate in the area. We need to begin evacuations immediately, Jack," Sam stated as calmly as she could, given the circumstances.

"_Three hours, you said? Laundry have them dial Atlantis and send the Daedalus back, the more ships we have beaming people to the SGC to get through the gate, the more lives saved. Start with the IOA and world leaders. Next, go to our lists of people selected for emergency evacuations. After that, if there's still time, start locating large groups of people. Try to focus on schools if at all possible, it's 1100 EST on a Tuesday, that means we have a lot of kids in school right now in the Western Hemisphere. Kids, teachers, pinpoint hardware and farming stores and start beaming their people and stocks up. Laundry, you got anything to add?" _Jack asked. Sam could hear him already moving about his office in a rushed manner.

"_Try seeing if you can lock onto colleges and trade schools as well. We need as many young educated people as possible of a reasonable age to have children. They just got the wormhole open for Atlantis, expect the Daedalus in the next five minutes. Grocery stores, lock onto them too. We'll need as much as we can get in terms of non-perishable foods. Any room you have in those ships needs to be stuffed to the brim with supplies. I need to go get things organized from my end, start beaming people in as soon as possible and I'll have the gate opened up to the Alpha site,"_ Laundry finished before hanging up.

Jack ordered Sam to beam him aboard the Hammond and the personnel at Homeworld Security as well. Once he was next to her, Sam looked at him with concern, "Why the Homeworld Security personnel as well? Why not send them straight to the SGC?"

"No need to stick all our eggs in one basket. Also, Nancy and the Director of Homeland Security arrived about five minutes ago for a meeting with me, and I don't want to risk Nancy getting lost in the mix of everything," Jack responded.

Sam rolled her eyes, "I thought you were gonna leave that viper nest alone." She waved for the technician to start beaming Homeworld Security life signs aboard the Hammond.

"I wasn't gonna tell her anything about being family. I was just seeing if I could hire her as a translator. If I could, then it could legitimize adding her and her fiancé to the locator beacon list without issue," Jack defended. "Besides, I wanted to know who my sister was. All I have to go on is what Rikki and John have told me."

"Right, of course. Well, you can have fun explaining to her what's going on," Sam remarked mildly annoyed with her lover's decision that potentially impacted her as well. "Sargent get started on the evacuation to the SGC. President Wallace and all of Congress go first, followed by the IOA."

"Yes, ma'am," The technician responded. She set to work managing the data of the multitude of locator beacons on people all over the world.

John was exhausted, both mentally and physically after dealing with the Genii in general and Ladon Radim in particular. He was silently relieved that he had the energy from piloting the city when he had gone to deal with the Genii. They had appeared a mixture of disappointed and relieved that John had no intention of analyzing at the moment. Still, they had insisted on John and his group spending the night after they learnt about the lightsabers and wanted to see more done with them, so it was something. He and the two accompanying teams were greeted by Woolsey, Teyla, Halling, and Kannan. Rikki was nowhere to be seen, but John wasn't expecting her to be waiting. His kid was probably buried in some research with some technology or another with McKay and hadn't realized a day had already passed.

John smiled at the Athosian men, "Halling, Kannan, good to see you guys. Glad you guys could join us."

"Yes, we are pleased to see you as well, General Sheppard. Teyla informed us that you prevented an attack on your home world, Earth, and gained a great deal of power while you were away. We are glad to hear of it," Halling greeted with a pleasant smile.

"Yes. It is gratifying news to hear. Unfortunately, the Wraith have become more aggressive in their cullings. We were hoping, now that Atlantis is back on Lantea, that you might allow us to return to this world's mainland, to reside under Atlantis's protection. We would be happy to resume our prior arrangement of assisting in maintaining the food supply of Atlantis, especially if, as Mr. Woolsey claims, you are intending on bringing equipment to assist in farming efforts, making it more efficient," Kannan added.

John smiled, "Well, I have no objection. I like you guys. However, it's not just my call." He looked at Woolsey.

"I believe that allowing the Athosians return to the mainland to be an excellent idea. With Lantea preparing to become a planetary colony, we will need all the help we can get establishing our own food supply, rather than trading for all we need," Woolsey stated.

Teyla beamed at this, "I told you there would be no objection to our people's return."

"None at all. In fact, why don't you guys head back and let your people know so they can start packing and I'll send Caldwell along with the Daedalus to come pick you guys up along with all your supplies. That will help you all relocate more easily," John offered.

"That would be greatly appreciated, General Sheppard," Halling responded with another genuine smile. John had always liked the man because he had always been genuinely kind. Halling was a man who was sincere and honest, what you saw was what you got, and John appreciated that, especially just after dealing with the Genii.

Before anything more could be said the gate activated. John turned towards it with a frown as the gate technician announced an unscheduled off-world activation. They had only gone to three different worlds since returning less than twenty-four hours ago. There were legitimately only four worlds, including Earth, that knew their location and thus, gate address. The shield went up as soon as the wormhole stabilized.

"_Atlantis, this is the SGC, we have a fleet of believed to be Ori ships headed for Earth. The number of ships is estimated to be at around a thousand and as such, we believe it will be impossible to defend Earth. We are beginning immediate evacuation to the Alpha site and request the Daedalus to return to help beaming people to the SGC,"_ Sargent O'Brien's voice came through the gate via transmission. "_I repeat, Earth is in imminent danger and it is believed we have less than three hours to evacuate as many people as possible before the Ori attack in massive force."_

"Roger that, O'Brien," Chuck, the Atlantis gate technician responded before looking to John.

"We understand fully, Sargent. The Daedalus will be sent immediately. With her wormhole drive, she should arrive shortly. We'll prep for receiving refugees if it becomes necessary," John stated firmly.

"_Thank you, sir. Gen. Landry said to inform you that as soon as we confirm Earth's destruction, that we will be heading on to Atlantis in a more controlled manner," _O'Brien's voice held sorrow in it.

John swallowed his now dry throat, "Understood. I'll let you go now, so you can begin evacuations. Expect the Daedalus in five minutes or less. Gen. Sheppard out."

The gate cut out immediately afterwards. John looked over to Halling and Kannan who looked a mixture of confused and worried. Halling was the one to speak, "Who are the Ori? Why would they want to destroy your world?"

"They're the guys who kept us from fighting here full force up until now. We thought we had eliminated them, but I guess not and now it's coming to bite us in the ass," He looked over to Woolsey before activating his coms system. His voice was sharp. "Caldwell, you need to get the Daedalus back to Earth ASAP. They have a fleet of a thousand Ori ships baring down on them with no chance of fighting that many off. They've ordered an immediate evacuation and want you guys helping."

"_Understood, I'll beam my personnel back aboard immediately and depart, Sir," _Caldwell's voice nearly cracked at the sir.

John looked to Woolsey, "We need to get everyone prepared for incoming refugees. It's gonna be chaos, even if they do send them in groups."

"You're right," Woolsey stated, his expression grim. He glanced at Chuck. "Put me through to the whole city."

Chuck nodded, his face taunt, grim as well. He pressed a few buttons before nodding.

Woolsey took a deep breath before speaking, his voice ringing out over the intercom system, "_Attention to all Atlantis Personnel and residents. We have just received word from the SGC that Earth is in imminent danger from a massive Ori attack that they do not believe is possible to fight off. At present, the estimated size of the Ori fleet is believed to be around a thousand ships. The Daedalus is departing immediately to assist them in evacuating as many people as possible, your families and friends included on your evacuation lists, to the Milky Way Alpha site. Once they have confirmed Earth's destruction the refugees will be transferred to Atlantis in smaller groups. _

"_That said, we need to prepare for a massive number of people arriving in a short amount of time, possibly as little as three hours. I need all senior staff members to report to the main conference room and everyone else to report to their duty stations immediately. Medical personnel should be prepared for a potential influx of casualties, should the evacuation continue after the attack on Earth begins. All science personnel need to prepare for the arrival of any documents, files, artifacts, and scientific equipment that we manage to be saved. All Military Personnel and Jaffa will wait on standby until given orders by your chain-of-command but need to prepare for security detail. Non-essential personnel, spouses, family members, and children need to report to their quarters and remain there unless requested otherwise. Woolsey out."_

Everyone looked grim as they headed to the conference room and John was practically vibrating with renewed energy as adrenaline washed over his previous exhaustion from dealing with the Genii. It didn't take long for the conference room to fill. Rikki and McKay appearing at John's side mere minutes after the announcement over the intercoms. Todd was not far behind, with Zelenka, and Dr. Richards, Rikki's friend and Zelenka's assistant. Richards joined them immediately.

"Sir, I just joined the Program, I don't have family, but I put a few close friends on my list, I don't know if it's enough time for them to have been given the beacon…" He stopped when John raised his hand.

"They were likely given it before we even finished your background check, Tom. Carter and I pushed for it, since we didn't doubt you would make the cut, with how Rikki described you, never mind that they are Rikki's friends too. They'll likely be in the second wave of refugees going through to Earth's alpha site. Odds are that your friends will be off planet well before the Ori strike," John stated soothingly. "We're lucky in a way, because the Hammond has upgraded deep-space sensors, we have about a three-hour window to save as many people as possible. That means that we might even be lucky enough to evacuate people who _aren't _on the list of immediate evacuations."

Rikki looked at John with concern, "Uncle Dave, Aunt Julia, and the twins will be among the first people, right?"

"They'll likely be just after the World Leaders, UN, Congress, and the IOA, but they are listed as high priority, Rikki. They'll be safe, I promise, sweetheart," He pulled her close.

By that point the conference room was packed with the senior personnel. Woolsey took another deep breath before giving everyone as much information as they had before going over the plans laid in place while they were on Earth for this possiblity. Group by group, the senior staff left to brief their people on their responsibilities in the upcoming chaos. Jennifer was among the first to go, needing to prepare to the possibility that the first wave of refugees would include the injured.

Finally, it was McKay, Zelenka, Rikki, Tom, Todd, Teal'c, John, and the Colonels left. Teyla and Ronon were leaning against the back wall as well. John disengaged from Rikki to address them, "Alright, I want all military personnel stationed along the halls to every major and minor mess hall, rec room, the movie rooms, and gyms. We need to funnel the arrivals into those areas so that we can process them. All non-Atlantis, or SGC personnel are to go to these areas until we can fully process them, connect them to their family members if they have any among the SGC or Atlantis personnel and arrange temporary sleeping quarters for them. All SGC personnel who bring equipment through are to be directed to our two empty storerooms and then assigned to assisting with the most immediate need.

"We can sort through everything once we have people settled in. The injured and any medical persons will be directed to the infirmaries. Any personnel transporting food items will be directed to… where we keep all that. The people transporting ZPMs get directed to the ZPM storeroom. All military personnel and Jaffa will be armed with the new blasters, set to stun only in the event of belligerent refugees. Use these as a last resort only. These people are family and friends of our people, but they have no clue what's happening and will likely be terrified by it all. Oh, and Government Officials will be directed and situated in the main conference rooms. Any questions?" John asked looking around.

Teal'c spoke up, "The Jaffa are heavily reliant upon the Tau'ri for Tretonin, if Earth is destroyed, what will happen to our people?"

"Then we work on assisting you in any way possible from Atlantis. We have an Asgard Core which is fully capable of creating Tretonin. Once things are settled, we will sort out how best to ensure that the Jaffa still receive what they need as part of being allied with us, even if we are in a different galaxy now," John stated firmly. Woolsey gave a nod of agreement at that.

"Very well. The Jaffa will provide security for the hallways to the conference rooms to ensure the safety of Earth's leadership," Teal'c declared firmly.

John nodded, "Sound like a plan. Lorne, I want the Marines and Air Force handling the rest of halls of the Control tower. Cole, Army personnel will secure the Northern Pier halls and gathering rooms. Bisset, Northeastern Pier, Bennet, Southeastern Pier, Romanov, you have Southwestern Pier, Becker, you have Northwestern Pier. McDougal, I need your people covering the infirmaries. There may be a lot of scared people, and scared people don't always behave in the brightest manner. Our people's job is to keep the flow out of the gate room and to secure gathering spaces running smoothly."

With that, the Colonels all nodded and departed. Woolsey turned to the remaining scientists, "We need a swift, efficient program for cataloging all refugees coming into the city and matching them with their family members if they are involved in the program, and if not, than gaining as much information about them so we know what to do with them."

"Tom and I can work up a simple spread sheet file that automatically matches names to personnel files. I mean, the names of the people that personnel put down for evacuations are already in their files and their files are digitized already. I just need to be able to connect that system to the files. We can even assign numbers to each refugee name that goes in, so that we can help get the personnel connected with their family members quickly," Rikki offered immediately.

Rodney nodded before John or Woolsey could, "Good. Do it. I'll give you my access code."

"Don't bother, I already memorized it," Rikki stated before waving for Tom to follow her and the pair quickly left.

"She's as impertinent as you are, Sheppard," Rodney huffed in annoyance.

"You can be pissed later, Rodney. We have work to do," John glared at Rodney and his friend fell silent, knowing it was neither the time nor the place.

Excepting an argument Landry had with the President about evacuating and Danial commandeering a few personnel to box up artifacts in his office, to Landry's annoyance, the evacuation was going relatively smoothly. The whole of the IOA, Congress, and a good chunk of the UN ambassadors, and world leaders were already on the Alpha site, safe and secure. That was thirty-eight minutes into the evacuation. The gate had shut down automatically.

Now, the President waited, with her family in tow, the primary reason for the evacuation dispute being that she refused to leave without her husband and children, for them to be able to go through together. They had just redialed the gate and were about start sending more people through when the comms on the other end announced that the supposedly secure alpha site was under attack and not to send any more people through. Before more could be said, the gate's connection fluctuated and then cut out again.

Landry blanched, "Redial the alpha site!" He snapped at Sgt. O'Brien even as the technician was already working the keys to redial the gate. When it failed to connect, he tried a second and then a third time. Landry felt a wash of dread flood over him. "Attempt the Beta, Charlie, and Delta sites in that order."

O'Brien didn't hesitate to follow the order. The Beta through Delta sites also refused to lock. Landry's voice trembled with horror as he gave his next order, "Dial Atlantis, we'll have to send people directly there."

"Yes, sir," O'Brien stated firmly. Landry breathed a sigh of relief when the final chevron locked, and the wormhole opened. "Atlantis, this is the SGC, we've had to change plans, we are sending refugees directly through to you."

"_Go ahead and send them through. Why the change of plans?" _Chuck's voice sounded through the comms even as people started going up the ramp and through the wormhole.

"This is General Landry. Inform General Sheppard that the SGC's Alpha, Beta, Charlie, and Delta sites have already been destroyed by the enemy forces. President Wallace and her family, as well as the British and Canadian Prime Ministers, and British Royal family are to be placed in a secure location and Atlantis needs to raise its shields in anticipation of a potential attack. We don't know at this time if the enemy has Atlantis's current location," Landry forced his voice to be clear and firm.

"_Relaying the message now, sir," _Chuck responded without hesitation, though it was clear he had to force the words out and they sounded half strangled.

Less than two minutes later Sheppard's voice sounded over the comms system, "_What kind of damage are we looking at, Landry?"_

"The entire IOA, Congress, most of the UN, and all the world leaders besides President Wallace, the British and Canadian Prime Ministers, and the British Royal Family had already gone through the gate. Wallace, the Prime Ministers, and Royal family are coming through now. We need them in a secure location," Landry stated, watching as the Queen's younger sons and their children filed through the gate, followed by the remainder of the UN Ambassadors. "Fortunately, Homeworld Security's personnel, General O'Neill, and the head of the NSA are all on the Hammond, so they're fine. President Wallace insisted on waiting for her family, and we had a bit of a delay on locking on the Prime Ministers and Royal Family, which is why they're all fine for now."

"_They're being escorted up to one of our primary conference room as we speak. You guys started on any family members yet?" _Sheppard asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Not yet, no. Your brother's family is being beamed in now. My daughter should be right behind with the SGC's medical supplies and personnel," Landry stated, reassuring the other general. Of the three key three generals, Landry, O'Neill, and Sheppard, Sheppard was the only one who had multiple family members not in the know. Of course, O'Neill had his sister, Sheppard's ex-wife, but she was already on the Hammond, and Landry was certain that Sheppard wasn't really concerned with her at present. Still, he tacked the information on. "Dr. Nancy Sheppard is already on the Hammond with Gen. O'Neill."

"_Good to know. Thanks, Landry,"_ Sheppard stated just as a startled Dave and Julia Sheppard were beamed into the room along with a few classrooms full of kids and two teachers, all of whom looked terrified. They were swiftly shuffled up the ramp and through the gate by the gate room personnel just as Carolyn and her people started flowing through the gate with their secured equipment and the few patients they had had in the infirmary. He had to give his daughter credit where it was due. Carrie was excellent when it came to efficiency.

The moment Dave and his family came through the gate, John was down in front of the gate herding them away from the crowd and settling the four of them on the floor in a corner, though Dave was giving John some serious 'what the fuck' glares. John gave him a quick 'I'll explain later' before refocusing on the others coming through the gate. The children from John's nephews' classes were being herded by their teachers and a few of the Marines from the gate room. John felt bad for the kids, even though he knew they were technically extremely lucky to share a classroom with his nephews.

He realized that the SGC must have decided to collect larger groups wherever it was possible. The medical personnel that came through next were given a guide and John watched as crates of supplies and equipment were carried through the gate and off through another direction than the kids had taken. After that, there were more waves of people who were more than a little scared and confused. Fortunately, they had managed to get the military personnel in position very quickly, and thus, they were directing the flow of refugees coming out of the gate.

It was now a steady stream that John realized must have meant the crews of all the X-304s must have been rotating locking onto locator beacons and beaming people directly into the SGC gate room. There was a part of the flow that was SGC personnel carrying essential equipment and supplies. Given that a lot of the people were pulling entire pallets of supplies through, John was glad that they had made a makeshift ramp down the steps in front of the gate, or it would be causing a backup of the pallets. As it was, they were transferring them all to a nearby large room and along the sides of the wider hallways for the moment, at Woolsey's instructions, and were going to have the 304s beam them to their appropriate locations once they had the evacuation finished.

At an hour and a half into the process, Landry announced that they had evacuated all the people on the lists and were now targeting high life-sign concentrations before the gate did its standard shut off at 38 minutes. When the gate reopened, the people who came through were a mix of personnel led by Dr. Jackson and what looked to be a large group of teenagers or young adults. John realized they were targeting high schools and colleges. His heart clenched a little with the realization of why. Those would be the people in the correct age range to be able to start having children immediately or in the near future and help rebuild their population.

It was smart from a tactical standpoint, but it meant that these young people were likely to have their entire realities shattered, had already had them shattered, though right now, they were only confused and frightened. At that point, Tom and Rikki appeared at John's elbow. Rikki's expression was one of resignation.

"We've got the program set up and loaded up onto these data-pads. We've got fifteen so far, though it can be easily transferred to more. The program updates to all the data-pads with each new entry and will assign a serial number, a Social Security Number replacement, to each person. We confiscated some stacks of sticky-notes and pens. Those can hold the number for each person," Rikki explained quickly, holding a box full of data-pads while Tom held another with the boxes of sticky-notes and pens stacked on top of it. There was also tape, which John wasn't sure what it was for, but figured there was a reason for it.

John nodded, "Good thinking. See if your uncle Dave and Aunt Julia can join you guys and start in on processing the refugees. Take two pads for yourselves, they can pair up with you two and help with the process by writing out the numbers for everyone. Your cousins can hang out here with me."

Rikki nodded, "We're probably going to need guards." She pointed out just as Rodney joined them.

"There you are. Took you long enough to get those ready," McKay gruffly remarked before checking over the basic system and giving them a nod of approval. "Auto-updates and serial numbers for everyone, excellent thinking. That will help keep things a little more organized. What's this little part right here?"

"It's a sub-routine that gives an automated notification to personnel when their family members have been processed as well as their location in the city. We figured it might help prevent tensions from rising too much if they knew their families were safe and where they were. That's what took so long," Rikki explained.

"Again, great thinking. Get your aunt, uncle, and cousins processed and then head down to the main cafeteria with them. That place has gotta be packed already, so you can start processing the people in it and giving them numbers," John stated, he glanced around for a moment. "Ronon, Todd, I need you to play security detail and escort Rikki, Tom, Dave, and Julia to the main cafeteria and keep people from getting rowdy with them while they work. Rodney, the rest of these are for you."

Dave and Julia were clearly uncomfortable when Todd followed Rikki over to their little huddle, but when Rikki explained that they needed help and that John would keep an eye on her cousins, the couple toughened up and Rikki and Tom were able to easily get them processed. John smiled lightly when his comm made four consecutive alerts that his family member and then the name had been confirmed as secure on Atlantis. As soon as they finished, John's nephews, Peter and Patrick relocated to settle into a seat on the steps leading down to the gate near where John stood. They were easily in John's line of sight. The normally rambunctious twins were quiet and clung together tightly, clearly frightened.

John ran his hand through their hair a little bit and told them that it was okay, they were safe, they were just trying to make other people safe too. The boys relaxed slightly, but still kept close for comfort. Peter, who was closest to John, wrapped an arm around his leg for comfort, ensuring his uncle stayed close, making John's eyes prick a little.

By the start of hour two of the evacuation to Atlantis, an hour and a half after the ships were first sighted, the stream of SGC supplies had stopped, and it was just people coming through the gate. Most were clearly terrified. He still stood near his nephews but held a bullhorn in his hand instructing anyone with medical training to follow the group to the left while everyone else was to follow the flow of people to the right. Those groups were being directed to different transporters throughout the tower.

Five minutes later, a Marine Second Lieutenant came through the gate and made a beeline for John. As soon as he was close enough, he saluted, even though they were inside, and reported to John, "Sir, General Landry ordered me to inform you that the enemy fleet has reached Earth and immediately began bombardment of both the planet and some sort of attack on the sun, according to our ships. They don't appear to realize our ships are present at all, thanks to our shields and cloaking. We're to expect incoming casualties as we attempt to continue evacuations as long as possible."

John nodded, "Understood. Why don't you join the rest of the SGC personnel still coming through?" The Second Lieutenant looked nervous beyond all belief, but John suspected the poor kid just graduated from the Academy and got immediately assigned to the SGC. The kid immediately followed John's suggestion and mere moments later the stream of people coming through the gate changed from scared and confused to terrified and all too aware. There were plenty with minor injuries, mostly they looked like they had been knocked over while in the surrounding area of the attacks from percussive blasts.

"Medically trained people and seriously injured to the group going left, everyone else to the right!" John instructed through the bullhorn.

Immediately a few people clearly nursing broken bones, mostly arms, though a few were limping along with leg injuries with the assistance of other people went left. The stream of people also got heavier, the SGC clearly attempting to get as many people through the gate as possible in the small window left. More and more people coming through were injured and John realized that the SGC was likely down to just a bare minimum, enough people to get the people through the gate and the base was otherwise empty. There was a sudden rush of SGC personnel, Landry being the last one through screaming for them to raise the shield as he did.

Chuck did so immediately and less than ten seconds later, the shield flared as a massive blast must have hit the gate and then it cut off. Landry wove his way through the crowds of people still in the gate room. John raised his bullhorn back up and ordered everyone uninjured to the right flow and everyone injured to the left. People started moving again as Landry reached them.

He shook his head, "Carter and the rest should be here any second. They gave us just enough warning that the sun was about to go to get out."

John's blood drained away and he held his breath for the forty seconds between Landry saying this and his comms crackling to life, _"General Sheppard, we managed to take on one last group of people before breaking orbit, permission to beam them into the gate room, sir? A good number of them are injured and need immediate medical attention." _Caldwell's voice led to John finally exhaling. It was immediately followed by Carter and then the commanders of the other 304s checking in and making similar requests.

John gave them the go ahead in the order of the requests and more injured people were assisted towards the left in the direction of the transporters designated for the infirmary. John swallowed hard and felt tears prick at his eyes as O'Neill was beamed down with Nancy and the Homeworld Security personnel. He sat down hard on the stairs next to his nephews and Landry sat down beside him. O'Neill joined them, his expression of horror and devastation made John realize that the man had just watched their homeworld in its death throes.

It was O'Neill that spoke, breaking the silence even as McKay joined them with a data-pad looking grim, but slightly relieved, though John didn't want to know why, "Wasn't the Ori. I didn't recognize the make of the ships, but they were completely different from anything Alteran in design, Ancient or Ori. Those were definitely designed for function over form and they were _massive_. I've got no idea what they had against us, but they clearly wanted us out of the picture, given that they went through a great deal of effort to cut off any escape routes. I'm guessing the only reason they didn't dial into Earth just before the start of the attack was because we were already dialed out to Atlantis and they couldn't anticipate when we reached our limit for the gate and dial in before we could dial out again."

"Well, I have some minor good news. We already started checking people in, the numbers started where our personnel and the SGCs cut off. Um… we have a minimum city population count of twenty thousand at present. That puts us, at minimum, in a safe zone in terms of survivability, if we can defeat the Wraith now. There's enough genetic variation that we won't face an imminent inbreeding problem, as long as we keep a close eye on things. Though I would think that discouraging monogamy among our younger populous may be to our advantage," Rodney stated. "That is also assuming that whoever attacked Earth doesn't know the location of Atlantis and choose to attack us as well."

O'Neill shook his head, "I don't think they know about Atlantis. Or if they did, it was more likely that they thought it was on Earth. This was a targeted annihilation with a knowledge that they were getting most of humanity in one fell swoop." Daniel approached them with his expression just as grim as everyone else's, though John noted the man looked like he was a bundle of barely contained rage.

"We need to give these people some basic explanation of what just happened, Jack. Can I do it? I have something to say to every refugee that came through the gate," Daniel requested.

Jack looked at John who nodded, "Alright, I don't think I have it in me to explain anyway. It's been a damned long day. Go right ahead, Jackson." John stated numbly, wrapping his arm around his nephews. The boys were only seven and their world had just been ripped to shreds. He gave a nod to Chuck to let Daniel use the intercom system.

Daniel nodded and went over to the man who set it up and gave Daniel a thumbs up. Daniel took a deep breath before speaking, "_If you are not Personnel of Atlantis or the SGC, you probably have no idea what has occurred in even the last three hours, much less the last decade and a half. It's a very long story that I'm sure all of you will soon come to know the stories very well soon. However, today is not that day because we just don't have the time for it. Instead, I will give you the cliff-notes version._

"_The device you passed through for the first time in your lives in the past few hours is known as a stargate. It generates a wormhole in one point in space and connects to another existing stargate, allowing matter to pass from the first to the second stargate in a matter of seconds. That is what happened to you. Know a few things, humans, as they are perceived today, didn't create the Stargates. They were left to us by our far distant ancestors that we currently refer to as the Ancients but were once known as the Alterans. _

"_For reasons I can't get into at the moment, two thousand years ago, the Stargate on Earth was buried in Egypt. In the thirties an Egyptian dig uncovered it and as it was run by an American, the Stargate got relocated to the United States. From there, over the next sixty years, we attempted to make it work, only having one prior success before 1994. After that, over the past 15 years, the humans of Earth, mostly the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corp, and civilian contractors were sent through the gate countless times, exploring the various worlds of our galaxy capable of sustaining life, we built alliances and made technological advancements beyond some of your wildest imaginations, including being able to travel via space ship between The Milky Way Galaxy and the Pegasus Galaxy in a matter of weeks. That's right, faster than light travel. However, over time, other countries contributed significantly to the cause as well._

"_We have also fought and won two wars. I fought, was a key fighter, in both those wars. The first war started, amongst other things, with the kidnapping of a young Air Force NCO, in addition to my own wife and brother-in-law's kidnappings. On that day, I felt rage like I had never known possible and swore to find them and return them home. I succeeded with my brother-in-law, Skaara. I failed with my wife, Sha're. She died at the hands of the Goa'uld. She was forced to bear a monster's child and then she died," _Daniel paused, emotion seeping into his voice before he continued. John knew that Daniel was spinning the story, though not how much, as he didn't know the particulars of the man's past.

"_Once more, I felt a rage like I could not have imagined possible. This time, I swore I would destroy the monster who stole my wife from me in the cruelest way imaginable. This was a vow I kept. Apophis, the false Goa'uld God, died before my very eyes. From there, we brought the rest of the Goa'uld to their knees. We cleansed the Milky Way of a galactic terror. I even made the ultimate sacrifice a few times and quite literally died. My friends say the only reason I'm still alive is that I am too stubborn to stay dead. They're probably right, too._

"_Before that war was truly over though, a new enemy, with far more danger presented itself, the Ori. This time, I didn't have a personal rage driving me on. Instead, I had loyalty to Earth, and the knowledge that if the Ori won, we would be subjugated in a way even worse than the Goa'uld could have. Because while the Goa'uld were obvious and open, the Ori were subtle, they used lies, deception, false promises of greater things they had no intention of delivering. If you defied them, they used the worst tactics imaginable to punish you. They believed that those who defied their desire to be worshipped should be burned alive before all to see. As a message, it was potent too. _

"_They are, very distantly, even related to us, over two million years ago our ancestors, the Ancients, left the Alteran Home Galaxy and came to the Milky Way when they decided to follow a different path, a less horrible path than the Ori. This made the Ori even more determined to have us subjugated to them. We did not faulter or waver in this war, and we wiped out the Ori and freed the Alteran Galaxy humans from the enslavement they suffered at this powerful group. We defeated all the System Lords of the Goa'uld and freed humans and Jaffa alike from their tyranny. _

"_I tell you this now because I need you to know that I have fought with rage and I have fought with loyalty to all humanity. I know those ways of fighting work because I have seen time and again that fighting for the right reasons and fighting to relieve your pain are extremely powerful motives for fighting a war. Today is not like the day I had my wife kidnapped by the Goa'uld. Today is not like the day I witnessed a Prior of the Ori burn an innocent couple alive because they believed in science and not blind faith. Those days made me angry and desperate to stop the evil._

"_Today, today is a day that I am horrified to admit that I'm not angry, I'm not enraged or pissed, and I am not desperate. I'm not those things because those words are too small, too weak, insufficient to describe what I am feeling right now," _Daniel's voice wavered with his next words. _"Seven point Seven Billion, that's billion with a capital B, human lives, nearly ever cat, dog, horse, animal of any and every species of animals that was so numerous I can't even begin to put a number to them, but I'm guessing somewhere in the trillions, maybe more. All those lives snuffed out in a matter of less than half an hour. They fucking blew up our sun to _ensure _there would be no chance of survivors. They did this without any provocation, we don't even know who these aliens were. They just took offence to us existing and decided to wipe us out for no reason at all._

"_So, today, I'm making one more vow. I will not rest, I will not stop, I will not hesitate. They can rip the very heart from my chest, but I _will keep going _until I know that every single last one of our new enemy is destroyed. We may not know their faces yet, but we will and when we do, we will make it look like what they did today to our home, our world look mild and tame in comparison. And one more thing. I'm sure most of you are thinking 'that's easy for you to say, you're probably some Marine or something, a career military man', but I'm not. _

"_My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson, fifteen years ago I was a down on my luck Egyptologist with wild ideas about how the pyramids were built. Funny thing was, as wild as they sounded, I was right. But I wasn't a warrior, I was a nerd through and through. Up until the first time I stepped through the Stargate I had never even held a gun or tried learning how to fight. Those Goa'uld changed me. If I stood face to face to the man I was fifteen years ago, he wouldn't recognize me, but I would recognize him, because buried deep beneath all the academia, was a strength that I hadn't known was even possible within me and it was woken by my wife. _

"_So, I hope that everyone in this city now will look inside themselves, past the pain and the grief and the horror of what has happened to Earth and find that indominable human spirit that I know resides within every single one of you. Because right now, I know you're struggling with what has happened in the past three hours, but in the coming days and weeks it's going to sink in and irrevocably alter you in a way you could not possibly imagine. It can do either one of two things, it will break you, or it will harden you into a diamond. I hope that we end up with a lot of diamonds today."_

Everyone in the gate-room had bowed their heads as Jackson spoke, John was startled to realize that Jackson had likely faced enough tragedy to have broken a dozen times over, but he was simply made of more. There was general silence until Mr. Woolsey slipped into place to make an announcement of his own.

"_Thank you, Dr. Jackson. Everyone listening, my name is Richard Woolsey. I'm the currently designated leader of the Atlantis Colony, which is located on the planet Lantea in the Irregular Dwarf Galaxy Pegasus, approximately three million light-years from the location of Earth. I would like to welcome you to Atlantis and assure you that we will do everything in our power to get you all settled into accommodations, fed, clothed, and cared for in any way necessary. However, to do this as swiftly and efficiently as possible, we are going to require everyone's help. Many of you may not know this, but the reason a large number of you are here is because you have a friend or family member in the colony or as part of the Stargate Program that put your names down on a list for evacuation in such an eventually as what happened today._

"_Many others of you are merely lucky, you were either in a place of high population or that was deemed high value at the time of evacuation, be that a school or grocery store or even an agricultural store. Those of you who have family members already on the colony or in the program, please know that the members were limited to listing five people and for many of them, the choice of who to put on those lists was excruciatingly difficult. In addition to this, there were certain requirements for going on the list, such as a ban on anyone with a history of violent crimes or thief, so please do not lay blame on them for other loved ones that didn't make the list as they have an extremely difficult choice to make. _

"_The first step in getting everyone settled is to gather everyone's names and reunite as many families as physically possible. Once this is done, we will attempt to assign temporary accommodations to everyone as swiftly as possible. Some of the things that need to be considered are this, if you were teachers in charge of classrooms of small children, for the moment, we need you to keep track of your charges and the numbers assigned to them need to be secured to them via tape, so they don't get lost in the chaos of all of this. We will do our best to ensure that food is brought to all the current gathering places of refugees and that everyone has an opportunity to eat as soon as we possibly can. We ask that you bear with us, as we work to get everyone processed as quickly as possible and do your best to cooperate as fully as possible. _

"_There are some of our people in various areas of the city with data-pads who are to gather your basic information and assign you all a serial number. The information they need is as follows: Your Name. Date of Birth. If you have a family member in the Military, a key government position, or who is a scientist working on a highly classified project that keeps them away for long periods of time. We need the name of this person to cross reference with our Personnel database. If you are an adult who has completed their education, we require the extent of your education, the field your degree is in and your current profession. If you are a college student, we need your field of study and where you are in your education. If you are a high school student, we need what grade you are in and your planned field of study for higher education if you have decided on that._

"_We also need your body measurements so we can arrange for clothing for you. Finally, but still importantly, we need to know of any medical conditions you have or suspect you might have. This means if you think you have a cold or even a headache, we need to know. If you have heart problems, breathing problems, allergies, autoimmune disorders, or any mental health problems, anything of that sort, we need to know. This is not to penalize you in anyway, we need to know so that we can ensure that you receive the appropriate treatment and medications you need for your wellbeing. We know that it is entirely possible that you need heart medication, or an inhaler, or insulin, or perhaps anxiety or antidepressants, or antirejection medication for an organ transplant, and those things got left behind. We will provide replacements for you as soon as we physically can so that you don't suffer unnecessarily. _

"_Right now, every life on Atlantis is vital to the survival of the future of humanity. Be you an infant, toddler, or over one hundred. Every person is vital because you all carry knowledge, and a part of our history. You are vital because you are not only our future, but also memories of our past and we need to ensure that those things are not stripped from us as we move forward today. So, please provide the fullest extent of your cooperation so we can move things along more quickly. Thank you," _Woolsey finished and signaled for Chuck to cut the intercoms.


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: You're getting this chapter early this week because I will be spending the rest of the week working too hard to think, much less edit a chapter. **

Chapter 8: Aftermath

John got up and coaxed his nephews into standing. He was about to find a random person to take with him to his quarters to watch his nephews, when Nancy approached from where she had been shuffled off to the side by Jack. No doubt for the same reason that John had grabbed Dave and his family, so Jack wouldn't have to go through the hell of locating her. She looked a cross between horrified and concerned as she approached him.

"Please tell me that Rikki is here too?" Her voice wavered as she asked.

John nodded numbly, "Yeah, I think she's in the main cafeteria, helping process people in. At least that's where she was headed an hour and a half ago. Don't worry, she has Dave and Julia with her, as well as her friend Tom and a few of my people as guards."

Nancy's expression was flooded with relief, "Thank god. Well, today has been a real shit show. I'm not sure what I can even understand of what's going on, but I was on that ship and we watched the attack on Earth. Thank you. Thank you for putting me on your list even though I'm sure you hated me and didn't think I didn't deserve it." She had tears flowing down her cheeks.

John felt the tiniest bit of guilt and decided to be honest, "I didn't. You weren't on my list, Nancy. We didn't get the go ahead for seven people until just the day before yesterday and I already had Dave's family and Rikki on the list for me. By that point you were already on someone else's list and even if I could have put you on it, there wouldn't have been enough time, which is why Woolsey only stated five, not seven."

Nancy looked completely confused, her expression clearly torn, saying she had no idea what he meant. Jack moved in beside John and impulsively spoke, making Carter, who must have beamed down at some point and was standing nearby, cringe, "You were on my list, Nancy. One of the Atlantis Colony's geneticists linked me as being a familial match to your daughter, Rikki, during one of his studies. More precisely, it indicated I was her uncle, and since we knew that I'm not related to General Sheppard, we realized I must be your older half-brother. My dad walked out on my mom and I when I was pretty young. Since you're my only family, I put you on my list."

Nancy looked between John and Jack. When John nodded to confirm it, Nancy did something that shocked John, as she had never been the overly emotional or touchy-feely type. She straight up hugged Jack. Jack's expression of surprise quickly melted into one of relief and he hugged her back, rubbing her back as the younger woman sobbed into his chest. Eventually, she calmed enough to pull away and then went over to John, hugged him and then Peter and Patrick.

"Today has really put things in perspective for me. I know I don't have the right to ask for you or Rikki to forgive me for how ridiculous I've been of late, but I'm going to say that I'm sorry for the hell I've put you both through anyways. I'll apologize to Rikki later, if she even wants to see me. Um, where do I need to go to get processed?" Nancy asked.

"I can take you to see Rikki quickly and get you processed with her. I was going to go check on her, Dave, and Julia anyway, and then bring the twins to my rooms for now. I still have a lot of things to do, so if you could watch them?" John looked at her, hoping that her current emotional state meant that she would be cooperative with the idea.

"Yeah, absolutely. I can do that for you," Nancy agreed easily, offering a wet smile to Jack. "I think I would like an opportunity to get to know you, after the chaos of the situation dies down."

"I would like that. We can bitch about what a bastard of a father we have," Jack joked earning himself a wet laugh and then John guided Nancy and the boys down the stairs and towards a transporter. "Oh, and your fiancé is around somewhere on Atlantis, though I'm not sure where, I know he was on the list too and we got everyone from the lists out, so he's safe. I'll try finding him for you later, when we have the time."

Nancy gave Jack another hug for that before pulling away and looking to John for direction. After a moment of hesitation, John picked up Peter, handed him to Nancy and then picked up Patrick and settled him on his shoulder. Both of them were a bit old to be carried, but at the moment, John could tell that the emotional strain was getting to them and there were a lot of personnel in the halls as well as pallets of supplies that needed to be sorted out. Atlantis and SGC personnel made room for him to pass through though, given that his was a well-known face, never mind that he was the General in charge of the military here. He got nods from numerous officers and enlisted as he passed them.

A quick transporter trip and walk through the halls later, he met Lorne at the entrance to the main Cafeteria, John immediately nodded to him, "How goes the processing?"

"Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Richards have most of the people here checked-in, sir. These are mostly family members of high-ranking political officials and officers. My parents, sister, and her kid are in there. I was hoping to get your permission to collect them and bring them to my room so that they can get some rest and food to eat, sir," Lorne looked at John with pleading in his eyes.

John nodded, "I'm gonna get my nephews and Nancy here to my room for the same reason. Be quick about it, though, Lorne. We have a lot of work before any of us can rest."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Lorne's overly formal state spoke of how frazzled he was before turning immediately to go into the cafeteria, he followed the little paths that had been made as people left room for people to pass through while they sat down.

John was right behind him. Lorne was clearly scanning the room, looking for his family, while it was easy to locate Rikki and the others because Todd and Ronon were standing at her side, as she worked her way through the room gathering information from people who were all sitting on the ground. John and Nancy made their way over to them quickly. Rikki sighed in relief at the sight of her parents.

"Mom! Thank god, you're okay! Have you seen Uncle Jack yet, Dad?" Rikki asked, concern lacing her voice, she suddenly looked and sounded younger than her thirteen years.

"Yeah, he's fine. He was heading somewhere with Woolsey when we left the gate room. Listen, Rikki, your mom needs to be processed still, then I'm taking her and the twins to my room so they can get some rest, okay?" John informed her.

"Right, yeah, I can do that. Mom, there are some of my old stuffed animals in my room that you can give to Peter and Patrick. My room is right next to Dad's," Rikki offered, starting in on her mother's entry into the system, knowing her mother's information already. When she finished, she took a sticky note from Dave and quickly wrote down the number the system popped out. "Okay, Mom, this is your serial number. You'll need it as we start getting everything organized over the next few weeks, so don't lose it. I'm glad you're okay."

Rikki gave Nancy a quick hug before stepping back and getting back to work. John tugged Nancy along out of the room as Rikki got back to work processing people. John noticed that most of the people in the room looked despondent and listless. Lorne's family did cause a little commotion as they encircled the man and hugs were shared around. Lorne wasn't far behind, his three-year-old nephew on his hip as he led his family out of the cafeteria as well.

It was a bit more ducking and weaving through the crowds to get back to the transporter and the halls that led to John's room, though these had far fewer people. He settled the twins on his bed, retrieved Rikki's stuffed animals, and gave them to the boys to cuddle. He looked to Nancy as she settled herself on the couch, "Listen, you noticed how the doors opened for us automatically?"

She nodded, "Motion activated?"

"No, they only do that for people who have active ATA genes. You and I both have it, Rikki does, Dave does. I don't know about Julia, but if she's a carrier and she passed it on to the boys, they can open it too, just by thinking it. Don't let them out of the room for now. I have some granola bars and a few things for PB&J, so you can make them sandwiches if they're hungry or you are. This part of the city is pretty empty, so, I'll see what I can do about getting you guys assigned your quarters here, alright?" John reassured her. "There's also water bottles, and a few more things to snack on in the mini fridge over there. Apples, pears, and oranges, I think. Save the seeds from those, the botany department mentioned something about establishing an orchard on the Mainland. They'll want them now that they are severely limited with options."

"Yes, thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Um… John, that man… the green one who was with Rikki in the cafeteria…" Nancy was clearly hesitant to ask about him.

"Todd. He's a Wraith, not human, or a subspecies of humans, like everyone else here," John stated. "He's… well his people are the enemy here in Pegasus, they feed on humans, but Todd's different. He took a treatment we offered that removed his need to feed and he can eat regular food now, but he's also an exile from his people. He's… Todd's a decent guy, once you get to know him. He's also a friend, he'll keep Rikki safe."

Nancy looked like she was going to say something else, but shook her head instead, "Well, I suppose I should eat and get some sleep."

John nodded and left her to it. He got a request from Woolsey to head up to the main conference room. There he found the British Royal family, the Prime Ministers of Canada and UK, and President Wallace. The Queen was clearly doing her best to maintain her dignity with her husband on one side and eldest son on the other. Her three other children and their children fanned out around her. John greeted everyone and even bowed to the Queen, "Your Majesty, I apologize for the chaos, we are still trying to find out even how many people we saved."

"Hmm… Majesty, what folly that is. What am I queen of? You tell me, young man. The United Kingdom has fallen with every other country in the world. The British Commonwealth is no more. Can you even tell me how many British, Irish, Scottish, Australian, and Canadian citizens still live? No? I thought not. The number of people residing within this city, from what Mr. Woolsey informs me, is no more than a hundred thousand at the very best of circumstances. London alone had eighty times that amount," The Queen huffed out irritably.

John nodded, "You're right, but I can list off at least three people I know personally within this city who view you as their queen, never mind the Royal Marines and British Troops that were stationed here prior to the attack on Earth. Furthermore, your Majesty, your title is still Queen even if your country has fallen."

"Non-sense, boy. Let me instruct you on something. Today is a day that no human in this city will ever forget. If there is one thing that I have learnt in my very long life and reign as Queen is that when it comes down to the thick of it, in a matter of life or death, what matters isn't the location of your birth, or your religion. What matters is that everyone must band together for the greater good of all. Dr. Jackson is right. As a woman who has lived through several wars and served in one, there are two types of people in combat, the kind who break, or the kind who adapt and learn to thrive in adversity. I am the second kind and I know when the standing on ceremony becomes ridiculous. It is one thing to uphold the rules and standards of the Crown for the sake of my Country, but now is not a time for Patriotism towards one's own nation. Now is a time for unification. As was said so eloquently, we face an unknown enemy with a great deal of power. We need to determine how best to beat them," The Queen huffed, earning indulgent smiles from her grandsons.

"You know, I forgot you served in WWII, Your Majesty, most of your family is military trained isn't it? You lot wouldn't know how to handle a sword would you?" John asked thoughtfully.

"Of course, we do. The very idea of not knowing how to handle a sword," The Queen huffed indignantly, clearly taking offense with the question.

"Your Majesty, perhaps you should be shown to your quarters and given time to rest," The UK PM suggested.

"I will _not. _I may have had my authority hemmed in by the constitution, but when the matter comes down to it, I am _still_ the Queen of the United Kingdom and I will _not _rest while my people have not been given their due," The Queen stated immediately contradicting her earlier statement about how being the Queen was irrelevant. Several of the people in the room covered their mouths to conceal smiles at the reversal on her positions.

"Right, well, perhaps we should get down to business then. Now, we have no idea who this new threat is, or what they have against us, or even if they know about Atlantis and are going to attack here as well. Col. Carter and the other 304 commanders all got some excellent shots of what the ships look like, so we can at least get some idea of what their ships look like if we encounter them in a different situation," Woolsey stated. "The pictures should be on your data-pads."

John immediately pulled up the images and froze, "This isn't our first encounter with these guys, Woolsey. Rodney, Teyla, Ronon, and I have encountered them once before." John groaned once he saw the shape of the ship and the emblem on the side. It was a simple one, very easy to remember.

"What? When? What happened?" Woolsey asked, suddenly urgent, hoping that AR-1 hadn't triggered this attack somehow.

"It was when my team got trapped on the Alternate Reality Daedalus, the one with an alternate reality drive. You remember? The ship was smaller, but it definitely looks to be a similar design and it had the same emblem on the side. They were attacking the Atlantis in another timeline. Good news is that ship didn't appear to have shields and we were able to cripple it with the Asgard Beam Weapons pretty easily. Bad news is that they have a different type of plasma weapon and theirs seems to be a hell of a lot more effective on depleting the shields of that other Atlantis. We even got a good look at the guys too.

"The one we went up against was a ship a little smaller than the size of the Daedalus, it launched fighters when we took out their weapons and one of the damn things crashed into the alternate Daedalus and we think there were four crew members because that's all we found. They're roughly the same size as us, maybe a little bigger, and humanoid in shape, but they kinda made me think of green Klingons or maybe more like a green Cardassian from Star Trek, an ugly green too. Oh, and they have this weird red flashy lightbulb thing on one side of their heads. They pack a mean punch and were kinda hard to kill. Good thing we have lightsabers now. Those could probably take the fuckers down. Anyway, yeah, we encountered them in an alternate reality," John finished. He gave a pointed look to the British Royal family as they all had sudden comprehending looks about John's question with regards to sword fighting.

"So, it's safe to say we aren't the only timeline that has been attacked by these things and its possible that they can locate Atlantis?" President Wallace questioned John.

"Yes, to us not being the only timeline. I don't know to them being able to find us here. Thing was, when we were on the Daedalus, we were in orbit around a completely different planet. The one we were on before we brought Atlantis to Earth. Honestly, we don't even know what tipped these guys off or why they went after us so hard. It's possible they're tracking some technology from Atlantis and just got to Earth a little too late to destroy it, or they could have been on a twenty thousand year vendetta against the Ancients and decided to have their final battle today without knowing that the Ancients all ascended ten thousand years ago. It's really up in the air what prompted the attack. Hell, they could have had it out for the Asgard and got pissed when they learnt the Asgard were gone and we held their legacy," John shrugged. "If we're lucky, they may not even know about Atlantis. In fact, right now, while we are trying to get everything sorted, I damn well hope they don't know a thing about Atlantis."

"Amen to that. So, what exactly else can you tell us about these guys?" Landry asked.

"Their ships have weapons that can swiftly deplete Atlantis's shield, though there's no telling how much that Atlantis had in terms of ZPM power, we've got plenty. However, they're extremely susceptible to Asgard Beam Weapons. We took out their weapons system with a seriously crippled and weakened weapons system on the alternate Daedalus. I think if we have a fully capable 304, we should be able to take out their ships easily, so long as they don't hit in massive numbers. I don't think they even had shields, so we have that to our advantage as well.

"I already gave you a description, but I can get Ronon to draw you a picture of what they look like, he's good with doing those kinds of things. We now also know that they have much larger ships than the 304s and those ships are capable of blowing up a sun," John added with annoyance and a shrug. "They have hand-held weapons that are kinda star trek in nature, only I don't think that they have a stun setting like ours do. Oh yeah, and they are extremely hostile towards us, for no apparent reason."

Everyone nodded in agreement at that, "Right. We now know _who _attacked us, though we don't know what they're called or their motives, besides extreme hostility towards humans." The British PM stated stiffly.

"I'm fine with designating calling them Klingons until we find out what they're called. Hell, I'll call them Klingons after we find out what they're called. They do sound very Klingon to me," Jack quipped. That earned a round of chuckles. "Joking aside, we have other matters to attend to. I'm just gonna put Klingon in the entry point next to them and we'll have Ronon draw that picture for us, yeah?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and they moved onto the topic of ensuring the survival of Atlantis and the people within, now that it could no longer rely on Earth for any more assistance. It was quickly determined that they would have to ration food while they got farms on the Mainland established. They could also supplement their current supplies by trading with members of the Coalition planets, though Woolsey did warn them that the Coalition was asking for definitive proof that Atlantis was back for good this time and likely wouldn't take the news that Earth had been destroyed too well.

Before discussions could continue any further, McKay pulled up the information on his data-pad and announced that all the groups of refugees had been accounted for, "The current population of Lantea, discounting the Athosians who we did just promise they could return to the Mainland for our protection, is 56,367 people. Jennifer's people also have sixteen pregnant women in the infirmary, because they were concerned about the stress caused to their pregnancies. That number may go up. They also have 176 injured of various degrees ranging from near critical to sprains. Even better, we are female heavy, so if we can get some men to donate, we can ensure those women can have kids even without a romantic partner which will help with population."

"Over fifty-six thousand, that's good. That puts us well above the threat of inbreeding. There were some countries in Europe that had a smaller population," President Wallace stated with a nod. "Granted, I know that it's far from anywhere close to perfect, but any bit of good news is still good news."

"Do we know how many of them have skills in agricultural fields?" Woolsey asked.

McKay tapped away at his data-pad and nodded, "It looks like Landry's suggestion to go for agricultural stores paid off, we have around four hundred listing their professions as farmer or ranchers. That's plenty to get farms up and running and to teach more people how to do so. Especially with assistance from the Botany department and the Athosians who are going to be joining us."

"We'll need a way of clearing land fast, and we don't have any fuel for any of the tractors we appropriated from those same farming stores," Carter pointed out. "At present, we only have two large tractors with the intended modifications to run on the MZPMs that Dr. Sheppard created. We collected another twenty or so tractors, but they will all have to be modified. Plus, we still have to clear forest for farming purposes."

"Yeah, I might have an idea about how to take down trees fast. We have lightsabers and blasters. Those blasters were vaporizing concrete. We can use the lightsabers to cut down trees quickly and the blasters to clear the stumps out," John pointed out. I imagine we could take the trees down and chop them up pretty quick that way. Even better, we can use the logs to build log cabins for the farmers to live in, so we aren't constantly ferrying them back and forth. I'm sure our engineers can rig up the basics out there for them, so they're comfortable, and our scientists can set up a shield for them in the event of an attack."

"Your answer is always the most destructive isn't it? There is more than one way to take down a tree and remove the stump. We do have Asgard beaming technology, you know," McKay pointed out.

"Yeah, but lightsabers and blasters are faster and more fun. We have five 304s that can lock onto maybe five trees at a time. Rikki can whip out a hundred lightsabers for us and we'll clear a few acres in a day, Rodney. Besides, everyone needs the positive moral. You think a bunch of farmers _aren't _going to get a smile on their faces when they start loping down trees with insane easy and little effort?" John pointed out. McKay looked like was going to argue but Sam intervened.

"Sheppard's right, lightsabers are going to be a lot faster and more efficient, we would have to do intensive calculations just to recalibrate the beaming technology to lock onto trees and set them on their sides. Doing that repeatedly over and over would be exhausting because the beaming technology is meant for people mostly and targeted inanimate objects only occasionally. Not tree cutting," Carter interrupted before McKay could start. "Besides, you would still have to clean up the trees to turn them into logs for cabins."

They moved on to other topics from there. Everything from what to do with the scientists who hadn't had security clearance for the program but were considered high value and thus evacuation mandatory to how to deal with feeding more than fifty thousand people until they had a sustainable crop and farms going. One of the upsides of things was that McKay informed them that the Botany department had already began the initial seeding for sprouts of various plants they were planning on growing throughout their many labs, so once the land was clear, they could begin planting immediately, that included over five dozen apple, pear, and orange tree saplings each that were being held in some of the labs for orchards.

John smiled, "See, that's gonna be a crop that we can trade for other things, a crop that no one else can get anywhere else in the Pegasus Galaxy. Plus, apples and oranges are amazing, we get a good crop coming in within a few years and we will really be able to start to turn a profit. Teyla loves apples." John was smug.

Woolsey smiled, "Yes, it was her idea to plant the orchards in the first place. I imagine that will go over well with a lot of different worlds once we can get them really going."

It was late by the time they finished discussions. Everyone stood and departed, Woolsey personally seeing to arranging for the accommodations of the few remaining world leaders. Romanov and Bisset were standing outside the conference room waiting for Sheppard and he waved them over to the side, "How's everything going on getting people accommodated?"

"Vell, Cole is an asshole and making things irritating. But besides that, it is going very vell. We have been having Atlantis Personnel going to collect their family members in groups. Ve are on letter W right now, so almost all the family members have been relocated to living quarters. My sister, her husband, and her children are distraught, but at least relieved that our family is still alive. Once we finish with that, we plan on going through the rest of the people remaining and assigning the rooms based on their serial numbers given during their processing," Romanov stated.

"Sounds good. Any idea where my daughter and the rest of my family ended up after they finished processing people in?" John asked, knowing that with the processing completed, she didn't really have further instructions.

"I believe she went to get your family settled into rooms and arrange for a room for General O'Neill and Col. Carter," Bisset stated while covering a yawn.

John glanced at his modified watch and cringed. It had been more than twelve hours since the evacuation ended, "Damn, how much longer do you think this is going to take?"

"Probably another three or so hours. I imagine it will go faster when we are assigning large groups rooms and not just small family groups. We just wanted to get things done quickly but also correctly, which is why we got the personnel's families sorted first," Bisset stated.

"Right, walk with me while I go to check on my family, what did Cole do?" John asked as he waved for them to fall into step beside him.

"Apparently, he took offense to Col. Lorne arranging quarters for people who were family members of fallen Expedition members and SGC personnel in the quarters on the North Pier. He even went as far as to suggest an older woman and her granddaughter should be left to wait with all the rest of the randomly rescued individuals. He also attempted to force those with lesser injuries in the Infirmary on the North Pier to go join the groups. Dr. Beckett was having none of that though and told him where he could shove his opinions. These individuals that he deemed to have 'lesser injuries' were all black or Hispanic or Asia, I feel I should add," Bisset looked like he was ready to rip Cole to shreds.

"Of course, they were. Racist bastard, I have no idea how that nut job managed to get assigned to Atlantis, but I am not going to allow him to abuse his power any further. Cole's people weren't even supposed to be covering the infirmaries. Where does he think he got the authority to do any of that?" John grumbled, pissed off and stressed out, though it was all numb and muted for some reason.

They reached his quarters by this point though and when John poked his head in his room, he found it empty, but a glance into Rikki's room resulted in finding Dave and his whole family crammed onto Rikki's large bed, Julia and Dave having their arms wrapped firmly around their young boys. John went to the next room, which was supposed to be empty and when the door opened, he found Nancy and a man he didn't know.

"John, how is everything going?" Nancy asked standing and pulling the man with her to the door. John glanced back and saw that the French and Russian Colonels had stepped back to give them a bit of privacy.

"We still have a lot to sort out, but we at least now know vaguely who the enemy is, even if we still don't know what their motives are. We do know that they are extremely aggressive though, so we are going to have to be on high alert for a while," John stated. "How are you two doing? I'm assuming you would be Jerry?"

The man nodded stiffly, "Dr. Jerry Winslow. Nancy said that it was thanks to you and some other General that we're safe, so thank you."

John gave the man a grim nod. He disliked the guy on mere principle of him encouraging Nancy to abandon Rikki, but he didn't want to hold a grudge until he knew the guy, "Yeah, well, it was more Jack than me, but then he's going to be your brother-in-law, so, that makes sense. Listen, I need to get back to work and making my rounds, but where did Rikki go?"

"Um… she said something about being needed in the 'Core Room', I think. Something about making more beds, though I have no idea how that's possible," Nancy looked genuinely confused.

John nodded, "We were given some really intensely advanced technology by a friendly race that was dying out. They knew enough about us to trust us with the tech. Anyways, most of the intel on them is on what we call the Asgard Core. It's housed in a special room and one of the things it can do is generate pretty much anything needed so long as the programing is accurate, and you have the raw materials for it. Only a limited number of people are allowed to touch the thing though. Rikki's like third on that short list, so they probably have her making bunk beds for kids or something."

Nancy nodded slowly, though it was clear she wasn't certain what he was really talking about, "Right, this place is insane. Magical rings that you step through and you're in another galaxy. Faster than the speed of light travel. Aliens destroying our planet. A device that can generate anything you ask it for. I don't even know what to believe anymore. And Asgard, isn't that Norse mythology? Hell, there was even an alien guarding our daughter."

"Yeah, listen, we're going to do our best to ensure everyone gets the information they need, but I need to get back to work. You guys get some rest. Feel free to grab food from my room if you get hungry, just don't go wandering around right now. It's pretty chaotic still since we're still dealing with supplies and getting people situated, alright? Never mind you don't know how to navigate the city yet," John tried to be as sympathetic as possible, though he didn't really feel all that sorry for Jerry. "Oh, and talk to Jack if you get the chance, he has a lot of information he needs to fill you in on about your father and your familial genetics, especially if you guys are going to be trying for kids. The three of us… we aren't exactly entirely human either. We're hybrids. Ask Jack for more information, he can fill you in better when there's time."

Nancy's jaw dropped open about that, but John didn't wait. He left, and the door snapped shut before Nancy could follow. Atlantis had always favored John, though it also gave Rikki preferential treatment. He waved for the colonels to follow him. It was a quick trip to the core room where Rikki was indeed making a bunch of bunk beds. Jeannie was nearby working on a white board making calculations, though John wasn't sure what for.

The beds were being beamed from the room as rapidly as they were made, so John figured someone was doing point to point beaming for the living quarters in the emptier parts of the city without bedding or enough bedding. He recalled the classrooms full of children that had come through the gate, no doubt classmates of kids who were on people's lists and realized it was a near certainty that those children were now orphans.

Part of the discussions of what to do with people revolved around those kids, but it hadn't sunk in until just now that those children were likely to be sleeping on the bunk beds that Rikki was making at the moment. Instead of dwelling on it, John gave Todd and Ronon nods. Todd was at another white board working on a different calculation than Jeannie, while Ronon eyed them and John suspected keeping an eye on Todd mostly.

John didn't know why, but the level of distrust Ronon showed towards Todd didn't sit with him properly. Despite his prior comments to Rodney about not trusting Todd for a long while, his gut kept screaming that Todd wasn't now, nor would he ever again be a threat to John, Atlantis, and all he cared about. While John watched for a short while longer, Rikki stopped the generation of bunk beds and Todd wheeled over his board of calculations to her, which she immediately started inputting into the Asgard Core. A few moments later, they ran a test run for the calculations and John saw a simple black t-shirt appear.

After they briefly examined the shirt, Rikki made a few taps on the core and piles of shirts were being generated by the dozens. The group of scientists who were standing by immediately got to work collecting them and carrying off the stacks to John could only guess where. Todd had already gone over to another white board, but John had seen enough. His heart clenched a little at the sight. Todd was _helping _with what John had to assume were the world's dullest calculations to ensure that everyone who had been evacuated would soon have basic essentials like simple clothing, a bed to sleep in and who knows what else.

John pushed aside the feeling that was induced by seeing Todd doing something so basic and yet still, in a way, so profound. To see Rikki helping with the effort didn't surprise John in the slightest. She was his kid, and John would have been disappointed in her if she _wasn't _willing to help in this manner. Todd though, Todd got nothing from it, except perhaps a bit of good will from the people in charge. Romanov was looking oddly at John and then Todd before shrugging as he and Bisset followed John out of the Core room and towards a transporter to check on all the other areas of the city and find Cole.

As they walked to the transporter, Bisset commented on what Romanov didn't though, "I suppose your instincts about the Wraith, Todd, were accurate. I can hardly imagine a spy lowering himself to working on calculations on making clothing for refugees. In fact, I think I rather like the fellow. It takes a set of steel ones to be willing to turn his back on his people based on principle, morals, and desires. I imagine there are a great many more Wraith who would love not to need to feed on humans but are merely too cowardly to risk it as Todd has."

John cracked a slight smile, "Yeah, well, Todd's a smart guy. I would hardly call him your average Wraith. As for wanting to give up feeding, I can't say how many there are, but at least the kids are apparently reluctant to feed, so I say it's likely that at least the younger ones we can help out. At least, that's Todd's hope anyway."

He got nods from both men. Romanov spoke this time, "It is a bit of a relief to know that not the entire species is without hope. Our kind has too much of a history of violence towards those we feared and all too often for the wrong reasons."

John nodded in agreement with that before tapping his comm, "Gen. Sheppard to Col. Cole."

"_Cole, here," _Came an almost immediate response.

"This is Sheppard, what's your current location?" John asked, his voice hard. This guy had already irritated him a great deal in a short period of time and he didn't want to have to have it out right this second but was worried he wasn't going to be given a choice in the matter.

"_I'm currently helping with security in the main infirmary… sir,_" The delayed and tacked on sir was enough to make John's blood boil as did the man's location given that the main infirmary was in the Control tower and Cole and his people were supposed to be in the North Pier. Oddly, the rage was muted as well.

"Understood, I'm heading there now," John's voice was frigid, making the two colonels following him flinch. John didn't see or realize it, but his expression was one where if looks could kill, Cole would be dead without being in John's presence.

Todd had been concerned and unsettled when they received word of an attack on Earth. He did not know if it was a Wraith attack arriving in force, but if it was, it would likely spell disaster for him. When he almost immediately heard it being attributed to a group call the Ori, who were apparently known enemies to Earth in their own galaxy, Todd felt a great deal of relief, before feeling guilt for the sense of relief he felt, though he could not stop it.

What unsettled him further though, was when he was hit with a wave of cold rage when, as the first refugees arrived, John's expression had turned blank. He had a strong suspicion that rage he was feeling wasn't his, and if it wasn't then that dramatically altered the situation he was in, though he had no time to think on it now. Instead, he had heeded John's orders to provide protection to Rebecca and his brother Dave Sheppard, as well as Dave Sheppard's bond-mate, Julia Sheppard. Ronon Dex joined him in this task and for once, the human was focused on something other than his hatred of Wraith.

The bitter smell of fear that permeated the room full of refugees along with the waves of emotions that were not his own resulted in Todd implementing emotional suppression technics that he hadn't been required to use since he was a very young wraith. He had no idea if they would transfer back across the connection that Todd had, before today, believed was only possible one way at best in his situation, but it helped him at least focus on the task of assisting Rebecca and the remainder of John's family.

Todd made note of Col. Carter's brother, Mark, and his two children and when Rebecca processed them in, he made a mental note to ensure that Col. Carter was informed of the location of them, because he knew from the chatter on the comms that the evacuation was still occurring and that while it was, the woman was to remain on task assisting with the evacuation from the other end. Todd wasn't certain exactly why he cared, as he hardly knew Carter, but at the same time, he knew that John considered her a friend and thus, it felt important to him.

Todd also knew the exact moment when the evacuation ended because he was slammed with another wave of emotions, horror, shock, and grief. He did his best to push them down and send calm and numbness back through the growing link, unable to do more. There was an announcement over the intercom system a short while later that brought tears to many of the people around them. However, the emotions through the link seemed to settle a little with it. Todd was concerned further, though, that apparently, they didn't know the identity of the enemy after all. He knew it couldn't have been Wraith, however. Their ships were too distinctive to be mistaken. The emotional aspect of the bond flickered here and there with small amounts of emotions, but Todd pushed them to the back of his mind to deal with later.

A short while later, John arrived with a woman that Todd didn't recognize and the two offspring of his brother and his brother's bond-mate. He seemed to reassure Rebecca and his other family. Rebecca's declaration of 'mom' had identified the unknown woman slightly. She was clearly Rebecca's barer and thus, John Sheppard's former bond-mate. Todd knew that humans didn't bond in the same manner as the wraith, but that made him despise the woman no less. This was the woman, who from all accounts he had gathered, rejected her own offspring, something not even a hive Queen would do. Rebecca was an extremely gifted child and Todd could only wish for offspring as intelligent as she was. That Rebecca seemed to care about her progenitor's wellbeing even after such a rejection baffled Todd, but he refused to think too hard on the matter.

He suppressed the annoyance he felt over the woman standing at John's side, even as Rebecca filled in her progenitor's information without needing to request the information. Once she finished, the adolescent handed the woman her number, and Sheppard was on his way with a mere nod at Todd. Todd could not fault John for this abrupt behavior, in part because the man had no way of knowing of the forming bond between them. He likely hadn't even realized that his state of numbness was Todd's doing. Todd could only hope there wouldn't be a negative backlash when he informed John of the developing bond and the fact that it had already reached a point of near completion.

Once Rebecca and her companion Thomas, as well as John's kin and the man's bond-mate completed their task of processing everyone in the room's information, Todd went with them to situate the couple and their children in Rikki's room. Ronon glared at Todd for part of the trip, but Todd wasn't going to allow the warrior to unsettle him. During this time, Todd was a little startled to feel a flicker of amusement, though Todd had no idea what the source of that could have been.

Once the family was situated, Todd didn't even consider not following Rebecca to the core room and following the youth's instructions on creating the calculations for making clothing of various sizes. It was a logical course of action, to ensure that there was clothing for those whose homes and lives had been destroyed. The kin of McKay, who Todd had briefly met before gave him a nod and pushed over a white board with markers for Todd to work on while pushing another one with calculations already on it towards Rebecca who had already situated herself at the core. Thomas took a third white board while Jeannie Miller went to a fourth one.

The calculations already done up were, from what Todd could surmise, bedding in tiers. It was a space efficient means of accommodating the younger people who had come through the stargate, so Todd found it rather practical. He was told to focus on basic tops in various sizes, as not all humans wore the same size of clothing. As the wraith were all generally of the same basic size once they reached adulthood, Todd found it odd to need to accommodate for those who were heavier set, but didn't comment on it, merely getting to work on his assigned task.

As he finished the last of the calculations, he felt John's presence near once more. This time, he made no effort to converse with anyone in the room and thus, Todd felt at present, it would be best to pretend to be unaware of his presence at all. This was extremely difficult as he was slammed with a sudden wave a gratitude directed firmly _at _him from John. Todd broken the marker in his hand at the sudden onslaught of a positive emotion after the continuous waves of negative, though those were not directed at Todd in particular. They were mainly just general transference through the link between them.

This, however, was different. The feeling of gratitude, and if he was not mistaken, also affection, were fully directed at Todd, even as he felt them lessen slightly when John clearly employed his own means of controlling his emotions. Todd forced himself to remain composed as he pushed the white board over to Rebecca and then discretely discard the broken marker before retrieving another and going to another board to work on calculations for coats.

Todd lost track of time as he did the calculations for a myriad of things that were deemed essentials. The clothing, Todd could understand, as well as the hygiene products. What he didn't understand was necessary was that they decided that everyone required their own data-pads. Nor did he understand the necessity of bags called 'hampers', nor several other things that Todd thought were rather ridiculous but did the calculations anyways.

Eventually, Col. Carter arrived and told them that they had enough to cover the immediate needs of everyone and to get some rest. When Rebecca opened her mouth to protest, Col. Carter made it clear that Rebecca wasn't need for the remainder of the day. Todd decided to escort the young genius to her room and then finally rest in his own. He did so without realizing that Ronon had long since left, apparently having deemed Todd a non-threat. Once the girl was in her room, Todd stripped and didn't bother changing into sleep wear before collapsing into his bed and falling asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, my work has been a little wonky because I'm an 'Essential Employee' and Easter threw things off with my scheduling as well. I haven't had a day off since the holiday and I was too tired then from working overnight shifts. **

Chapter 9: The Pull Within

John was beyond exhausted by the time he got to bed. It had taken him far too long to get Cole to go back to the North Pier where he was supposed to be and he had informed the Colonel that his failure to obey orders in a crisis situation would be looked into in-depth once they had resolved everything. It took another four hours after that to get all the refugees, sans those in the infirmaries, settled into rooms.

When it came to the little kids that had been orphaned, they paired two younger kids with two older kids and stuck them in rooms with two bunk beds per a room. The older kids, teenagers mostly, were given firm instructions to keep an eye on the younger children and to memorize the serial numbers of the kids with them. It sucked to place the burden on those teens, but John knew that once things were a little less chaotic, they could work to create makeshift family units as best they could. Adults that wanted kids could be paired off with kids and the like. He rather suspected that was going to be a mess all its own but, he wasn't going to think about it just now.

John had checked Rikki's room, found her curled up in bed clutching an old stuffed pig that he had gotten for her when she was two, and gave her a kiss on the forehead before seeking out his own bed. He was too tired to bother changing and suspected that it wouldn't be worth it if he did. Instead, he just removed his boots and crawled under his blankets, hoping for a few hours of sleep before his com called him back to work. When they finally did, John found he had gotten only three hours of sleep. It was enough that he was functional, but just barely so.

The next few days were slightly better. Thanks to the serial numbers, they were able to get everyone clothing, and other essentials. Meals were arranged in shifts, with military personnel keeping guard after the first day when a heavier set man tried attacking one of the food distributors for 'attempting to starve him' and a riot nearly broke out in that mess hall. When John wasn't in meetings or organizing his people in shifts to maintain security or shuttling people back and forth from the mainland to start clearing land for agricultural purposes, he managed a few quick bites to eat and catching some small amounts of sleep.

Throughout all of that, John for the most part just felt numb. He was grateful for that, for the numbness that allowed him to work, to function even as Lorne broke down sobbing for several old unit members from his early days in the military that he knew didn't make it. To function when Woolsey, for the first time that John had ever really seen, lost his temper, yelling at Col. Cole when he learnt that the man had tried to discriminate against people of color during the aftermath of the evacuation. Of course, O'Neill approved John's request to bust Cole down to Major for the extent of his actions. Cole had tried to argue that they didn't have the authority for that, but President Wallace had pointed out that she did and approved the demotion as well.

John barely saw Rikki other than at mealtimes as he was forced to drag her and McKay out of the labs for food. The pair of them had started in on making control chairs and drones for all the X-304s. He only caught a few glimpses of Todd in all of that, for all that Rikki had assured John that the Wraith had been around and actively assisting. For his part, he was working on shield generators and long-range sensors keyed to sensing hive ships and darts. They were intended for the soon-to-be settlement on the mainland and were supposed to activate when hive ships came within range of the planet. It was smart and John knew they could use it for big ticket trade with other worlds that they wanted to owe Atlantis long term.

It wasn't until day fifteen that John began to be concerned about how numb he was feeling in terms of handling the destruction of Earth. Sam had said that it was likely just the work distracting John to the point he hadn't had a chance to process it yet. The problem was, was that John had had plenty of alone time. While the first few days he had barely slept, once they had gotten people settled in, and given all the necessary supplies, tensions had eased up a bit. Jennifer, when John went to her concerned that there was something wrong, as even his concern felt muted, eyed him, gave him a scan and shook her head, stating everything was fine.

John was baffled by it, but even that much was muted and so instead, he retreated to his room, determined to feel something. There was no way he shouldn't be processing the end of Earth by now. Granted, everyone he cared about on the planet had miraculously survived, but that didn't mean that he should be numb and isolated from the emotions that he _knew _he should be feeling now.

Todd's head was aching. For fifteen days the bond had syphoned off John Sheppard's emotions onto him, which he had summarily suppressed. He viewed it as an act of necessity. It allowed John to work at full capacity, despite everything, and in turn that helped everyone as a whole. Now, however, he was at the edge of breaking. His own progenitor had warned him in his youth not to suppress emotions for longer than absolutely necessary because otherwise there would be a price to pay. Those emotions built up and would eventually overflow, demanding to be heard. Well, John's feelings were like a dam about to break through Todd's best defenses.

That also meant that Todd could no longer put off the conversation he had been delaying as everyone else in the city came to grasps with the horror of what had occurred. He saved his data for the calculations he had been working on, as it was late enough in the day that he could reasonably stop and go for food. He could sense that John was hungry, but was focused on his emotions, or lack thereof. Still, he also knew that John had food in his rooms and thus, he was less than concerned about it for the moment. Instead of going to eat like the rest of the scientists in the lab he had been working in, Todd headed for the still mostly unoccupied hall of the city that both John's and his quarters resided in. The only new additions to their hall were John's kin and family, his former bond-mate, and her new intended-bond-mate.

He activated the chime on John's door and waited, unwilling to force his presence on the other, even as he knew that it became more urgent that he speak with John about what was to come. Thankfully, he felt John as he shifted within the room and then opened the door. He looked weary, but not in the same bone-deep exhaustion that Todd felt from keeping John's emotions at bay.

"Todd, what's up?" John asked, offering a weak smile, concern still riddling his face.

"There is something that I believe we need to discuss, and I believe it is best done in private. I do not believe you will wish for this information to become widely known just yet," Todd gave as an opener to the intended conversation.

John gave him a raised eyebrow but stepped back and waved for Todd to follow him into the room. The door slid shut behind Todd and he heard it seal shut, revealing that John likely mentally locked it so that they would not be disturbed. Todd wasn't certain whether that was the wisest decision on John's part but did not verbalize his concern as it was entirely possible it wasn't warranted. Instead, he waited for John to take a seat on his bed before seating himself at a safe distance, knowing what exactly would occur if he moved in too close to John at this point in the formation of the bond and unwilling for that to occur without giving John a forewarning and John's consent.

"What's up? Some sort of personal crisis?" John asked, Todd could feel the wave of distracted curiosity coming from him now.

Todd shifted slightly, "For both of us, as it so happens. However, this needs some explanation, for you to fully comprehend what is occurring. First, I must ask what you know of wraith reproduction."

John shrugged, though Todd could feel John's curiosity increase, "I figured it was pretty similar to human reproduction to an extent. We know that drones are made in a funky chair thing, like you showed us, but we figure the hive queens and commanders probably had kids the old fashion way, one male and one female doing the horizontal tango."

Todd gave him a raised eyebrow, "I am presuming that by horizontal tango you are referring to sexual intercourse. That is… accurate to a small extent. That is, however, not how the majority wraith commanders and queens are born. A Hive Queen can only produce one offspring once every century or so and they hold little interest in monogamy. As I am certain you can imagine, this is a rather slow means of reproduction, especially if one factors in that only one in six wraith young survives the process of switching from human food to feeding on humans. The much more common means of birth that is a far more efficient and productive means of gaining wraith offspring are bond-mates. Perhaps one pair comes out of ever thousand Wraith commanders, but they develop a tangible, and physic link with each other.

"These pairs, though both male, will have one carrier and one sire, or non-carrier, and they can produce one child per birth cycle every five years. There is much debate over what causes the bond between bond-mates to form among the Wraith. If it were fully known how such bonds formed, I suspect the number of such pairs would significantly increase. It is one of the biggest factors in keeping the wraith population as low as it is," Todd explained. "It is, however, known that once a bond begins to form, it cannot be reversed, and it means that the pair is entirely monogamous. The only means of severing it is if the carrier dies. The sire's death will kill the carrier but not the other way around."

John nodded, "Okay, I get why this would be seen as tactically important for your plan to save the Wraith from themselves. Not so much why you need to share this with me privately just this second, or what it has to do with me at all." Todd could feel John's confusion rippling off him in waves.

"One of the first and most prominent known traits to manifest of a forming bond is the sharing of emotions through a telepathic link. Unlike standard wraith telepathy, where it is predominantly voluntary what is shared, a pair of bond-mates will share all, regardless of whether they wish to or not. The reason for this is believed to be that it allows the sire to better cater to and tend to the needs of the carrier in the bond during times of gestation," Todd explained slowly. He partially hoped that John would pick up what he was hinting at.

John merely gave off more confusion, so Todd continued, "It also allows the pair to better maintain the balance and one to aid the other if the other is placed under extreme emotional distress."

"O-kay… still not sure what this has to do with me," John stated, clearly baffled by Todd's refusal to clarify why he felt this information was private and yet vital for John to know.

Todd sighed in mild irritation, not capable of holding back his bond-mate's pain for much longer, as he knew it would soon overflow, "Over the past fifteen days, has it not struck you as peculiar that you were not feeling the emotional distress that nearly all your fellow occupants of the city have endured?" He hoped that John would take the hint.

John's expression was one of even more confusion even as he proved himself not completely idiotic, "If I didn't know better, I would think you were implying that I've developed a wraith bond and since you're the only wraith here, it's with you…" His voice was still uncertain, as if he hoped for Todd to deny it.

"That is, in fact exactly what I am implying, because that is what has occurred. I must admit, it has been difficult to suppress all the emotions that you have been sending my way and assisting you in maintaining your calm through the critical moments of these past two weeks. However, your emotions have reached a height to which if they are not appropriately released it will be detrimental to both our well beings," Todd stated as clearly as possible.

John sagged down as realization flickered across the connection between the two of them, and to Todd's relief, no hint of revulsion, but rather relief, "That's why I've been feeling numb this whole time. Oh, okay, so… I'm guessing you were as shocked by this as I am. Not now, I mean, you've had two weeks to come to terms with the realization and chose to help me deal with the worse of the base chaos, so thanks for that by the way, I'm not sure I wouldn't have shot Cole at some point if you hadn't done that. But when if first occurred, you must have been shocked by it, and here I am adding to the emotions you have to deal with by adding my shock to it as well. Sorry."

Only Todd's dignity prevented him from sagging in relief that John was taking this all so well, "I admit, it was unexpected in the sense that I had not known if it to be possible for a wraith to form such a bond with a human. However, it is not unwelcome." He offered tentatively.

John nodded slowly at this before shooting him a smirk, "So, you don't find me completely repulsive to look at, that's good to know. You're sure this thing's permanent? There's no possible way of reversing the whole thing? I only ask because I gotta warn you that I can be insufferable to live with at times, just ask Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, and Rikki. Never mind that Nancy can regale you with tales of how insufferable I am."

"There has never been a recorded instance in wraith history of bond-mates being capable or even desiring to severe their bond it only ends with the death of the carrier, as I said, the carrier would die if they lose their sire. My own progenitors informed me that a fully formed bond is indescribable but also that they would choose death over losing it. I must admit, you are taking this much better than I had expected you would have," Todd remarked, shifting slightly. Now that he knew that John didn't find the idea repulsive, which made sense given the formation of the bond in the first place, he was borderline aching to finish the bonding process. He held back though, knowing that John was likely unprepared for that, and he would not impose upon him until he was.

"Okay, so… how exactly does this work? You said that you've been struggling to hold back my emotions for me so I was functional, but you also said that wraith couples like this use it to procreate and I have no idea how that's going to work because human males can't do anything like that," John looked mildly fascinated, and Todd felt a wave of arousal shoot through him, whether it was John's or his, he didn't know. He did know, however, that he needed to exercise extreme control, or he would soon find himself in an extremely compromising position. That was the logical, still functional part of his brain speaking though.

He bit back an aroused growl and nodded, "While human males may be incapable of carrying offspring, certain wraith males can. However, this is only the case for bonded pairs. All other instances, the intercourse are sterile. I would presume, that when we entered into the physical aspect of the bonding, I would be the receiving party and thus, the carrier for any offspring as I possess this physical attribute."

John's eyes widened, his pupils dilating, that heady pheromone once more being released, and Todd _knew _this time that the shot of arousal was from John. Todd was forced to clutch the back of the chair that he had leaned against for the duration of this conversation, "I must ask for you to calm yourself, please. It is difficult enough for me to be alone in the room with you within easy reach of a bed without giving into my baser urges without your own being added to the mix. As it is, I can barely hold back your more negative emotions without handling these as well. I feel you need to be fully informed of all the factors before anything further can occur." He swallowed hard.

John nodded and Todd did not know what John thought of to bring forth mild revulsion, but it was sufficiently effective. At Todd's look of concern, John smiled weakly, "Pictured McKay in a bikini. It works every time, but it's not something I relish. Please, continue, and I will do my best to not get too… excited."

Todd nodded in appreciation, "At the stage we are at in the forming of the bond, any physical contact will bring it into full strength. Once it reaches that state, we will feel an intense urge for intercourse. In every record, the completion of the bond results in one offspring after approximately 40 weeks of gestation. It also allows for full telepathic communication between both bond-mates without barrier, or any other form of impediment. I cannot say whether you will have full access to my mind, but at the very least I will have access to yours, regardless of where you are within the galaxy. I am going to presume that this is likely, however, to go both ways. Do you fully comprehend what I am saying?"

"If we touch, we're going to be having sex, and you and I will be able to read each other's minds. That could actually come in handy on missions, that is once you get past the whole having the baby thing. We've always frowned on allowing pregnant women into dangerous situations, and I think everyone would agree that applies to you too, once it occurs," John responded rather pragmatically.

"I must admit, you are taking this all rather well. I had anticipated some greater level of anger or frustration from you," Todd stated, still forcing himself to remain where he leant against the chair and not going to John and pouncing on the human as he so desperately wished to do. "I am glad you understand. I wish to release my hold over our shared emotions over the next few hours, so that you may properly process what's been held back and begin the grieving process that everyone continually speaks of at present. It is your choice if you desire for me to stay or go, however, if you do wish for me to stay, I admit, it will be extremely difficult for me to continue to resist physical contact."

John seemed to ponder this for a moment before slowly nodding, "I think I need to handle the emotions alone for a bit. I appreciate the offer to stay, even though it's gotta be rough on you. Um… I'm just gonna give O'Neill a heads up that I'm about to have my emotional overload and could use the day tomorrow. I'm sure he'll understand."

Todd nodded and immediately went to the door to leave. It opened of its own accord and Todd turned to face John, "If you require my presence…"

"Thanks, I'll let you know, but I don't think it would be fair to you if I asked for that in the current situation," John offered a final weak smile and the door snapped shut. Todd could hear it sealing once more.

As soon as that was done, he went to his own room and manually shut and sealed the door. He carefully changed into the soft clothing for sleep and laid down, ignoring his hunger. He then bit by bit released the suppressions of the various emotions that rippled over from John and that he had forced down for the sake of them both. Since they were mainly John's emotions, Todd simply laid there while his bond-mate was held within the crippling pain and agony that came with knowing an entire world of your people were lost to the savage cruelty of a race who bore no concern for their victims. He could feel John's shudders of sobs as the emotions rippled over the bond.

It eventually lessened, there was a sense of comfort, and Todd realized that Rebecca was with John. It made sense, he supposed, in a way, that Rebecca would provide comfort to John. Todd would have done so, but in the current stage of their bonding, there was only one thing that physical contact would bring about and Todd did not wish for their first-time sharing pillows to be completely tainted with the emotional agony that John currently endured. With the easing of John's emotional pain, Todd is finally able to rest, and he slipped into the first restful sleep he'd had since returning to the Pegasus galaxy.

John, for the most part, couldn't say exactly _why _the fact that Todd and he were, according to Todd, bound to each other, mentally and physically didn't really bother him. A part of him wondered if Todd was preventing him from feeling that, but within fifteen minutes of Todd's departure, the numbness that had held John within its grips seemed to almost melt away and what started as a trickle of emotions was soon agonizingly painful and overwhelming. The onslaught breaking over him like waves. Eventually, Rikki arrived in his room but he was only marginally aware of his daughter climbing up on the bed with him and curling up in his arms like she hadn't since she was a toddler, sharing in their mutual grief as they fell asleep within each other's arms.

In the morning, John winced at the dull throbbing of his head that came from the emotional release. Still, what had been numbness and then emotionally agony enveloping him, had turned to a dull hollow feeling in his chest. Not so overpowering that he would be distracted from the many things that needed to be done, but enough that he knew that Todd wasn't interfering with his emotional state anymore.

Rikki was awake and sitting on the chair that Todd had leant against the night before, "I was beginning to worry about you. I thought you were stuck in denial." She whispered as she got up and handed him a cup of coffee that John suspected came from his own supply. Coffee was a limited, precious commodity now. It was unlikely to last much longer, and John wasn't certain that the Botany labs held any coffee bean tree saplings in one of their labs for future production. He smiled as he noted that it was made up just how he liked it and he took a sip before his daughter handed him two aspirin as well.

"Yeah, it wasn't denial. Todd worked weird wraith voodoo on me so that I could stay functional enough to keep things together while everyone else got their initial break downs out of their systems. Honestly, I think I might prefer this method to standard grieving. That's all drawn out. Last night was… intense, but I've pretty much come to terms with our reality, so that's something," John mused. Then he managed to let it sink in exactly _how _Todd managed to do that. It sent a shiver down his spine, but it was more the idea was foreign to him, rather than it being negative. It was like John's first-time having sex with a guy back in college, it wasn't something he was familiar with, but it was something that he was more than a little interested, as he knew he enjoyed it.

"Weird wraith voodoo? How so?" Rikki questioned. Her expression wasn't surprised, just curious, as she ever was.

John sighed and then explained to Rikki what Todd had explained to him the night before. Rikki, for her own part seemed to absorb and accept this information like she did everything else, with a scientific mind. She eyed him, "Actually, that kind of makes a lot of sense. You would have to have another means of genetic variation from just the hive queens given their propensity to kill each other and the sheer low numbers of them. It's kind of like clown fish, or as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park says, 'Life finds a way'. How the bonds form is questionable, but I suspect it has to require at bare minimum sufficient genetic variation for healthy offspring, trust, and a physical interest for both parties, possibly more though if the numbers of bonds are so low. Teyla and Kannan are proof enough that wraith DNA is perfectly compatible with human DNA without sterility, as are all the wraith-kin among the Athosians, so that wouldn't be an inhibitor for mating viability and in fact it could prove a genetic advantage to the wraith to have a greater human DNA factor once we get rid of the need to feed, especially someone with Ancient DNA, though I suspect that any kid you and Todd have will only be a carrier for the ATA gene."

"Okay, if your argument were to be sound, that wouldn't exclude wraith worshippers, but Todd seemed genuinely surprised that it happened at all when he explained it to me. If it is possible and even advisable between a human and wraith for this bond to form, how come they haven't in the past?" John wasn't arguing, so much as playing the devil's advocate, hoping that his daughter could come up with a viable argument to present to President Wallace and Jack when it came out, and it would come out, rather sooner than later.

"Simple, wraith worshippers don't actually trust the wraith. They are just brainwashed into obeying and not even very permanently, I might add, given that you have successfully reversed the effects in multiple victims. It's just Stockholm's syndrome with a twist. That just goes to show that the wraith probably never truly trusted their worshippers either. To them, they're just pawns, a means to an end. I'm willing to bet that those worshippers _might _also find the wraith physically attractive in a twisted way, but I doubt that their masters feel the same way since the worshippers, as far as I have determined, are generally viewed as food that's useful before it dies to feed them, like a cow that's used for milk and when it's milk dries up, the farmer sells it to a slaughter house," Rikki pointed out.

"That is a very accurate assessment of how wraith view their worshippers," Todd stated from the doorway.

John frowned slightly at the door having opened on its own but waved for Todd to enter. Todd followed the silent instruction, "Forgive my intrusion. I sensed that you were focusing on me, but also that you were hungry. I thought perhaps you desired to eat a meal with me, but clearly those two things were separate after all." He was staring at John intently, clearly hoping for a contradiction.

"Okay, I get the feeling you were holding back some information yesterday, and the physical urges too," John admitted, he could already feel his little soldier standing at attention and that was with his thirteen-year-old in the room and Todd at a distance _and_ fulling clothed in BDUs. His first instinct was to tell Rikki to get lost and then pounce on Todd and based on the Wraith's expression, he was in agreement with that plan.

Rikki apparently took that as her que to make scarce, though not without a final comment, "I'm just gonna let everyone know that you and Todd are indisposed for the day, shall I? I can explain the basics of the whole wraith mating thing to the main chain of command and then you two can fill them in on the rest afterwards." Rikki squeaked out, making a beeline for the door.

"It may take more than one day. These things vary from bond-pair to bond-pair," Todd supplied, only half aware even as the teenaged girl slipped out of the room.

John sent an absentminded mental order to the city to lock his door even as he felt half his senses cloud over and the other half were heightened beyond what he had thought possible, most of which were focused on Todd. For example, he wasn't even aware of getting out of bed and pinning Todd to the wall, where he stood next to the door, but he was definitely aware of the completely delectable taste of the wraith's lips, the arousing scent he gave off, and every nerve was singing where John was pressed against _his_ wraith. He was equally clueless to when or how shirts were removed, though he was vaguely aware of a ripping sound at one point, or how their pants were removed, as he certainly didn't think that either of them had allowed enough physical space between them for them to be removed, but those were all gone.

He was dimly aware of pulling Todd over to the bed with him and Todd falling on top of him when he backed into it and fell backwards. He was also dimly aware of attempting to seek some lube before Todd informing him that it was unnecessary as was stretching Todd in preparation. He was, however, acutely aware of Todd straddling him as he hung half off the bed and sinking down on John's now throbbing shaft with startling pace and at the equally surprising pace that Todd decided to ride John at. Given that John couldn't have moved due to his position on the bed, he had to settle for gripping Todd's hips tightly and assisting the wraith with the raising and lowering of himself.

John would have felt a little ridiculous about orgasming less than three minutes later, only it was Todd's clutching around him in his own orgasm that had brought on John's. There was then a post-orgasm moment of clarity where John managed to get them further up onto the bed and get himself on top of Todd. He was also startled to realize that he was ready for action at a rate that he would have been envious of as a sixteen-year-old.

"When we reach completion this time, you must claim me by biting hard on the area where my neck meets my shoulder. You must bite hard enough to break the skin and draw blood. It is necessary for us to do so to stabilize and complete the bond," Todd gasped out even as John kissed his way along his jaw and down his neck. "Please, do not hesitated to enter me again."

John half snorted in amusement before easing back into Todd, "Only you… could make… sense… while fucking." He punctuated the words with hard thrusts, deciding to go with his instincts. Based on Todd's gasps, moans, and roaming hands, John assumed that was probably the best course of action.

After that, it all got a bit hazy again, thought he was vaguely aware of the iron tang of blood in his mouth during the next orgasm. However, since he didn't even partially soften and Todd was egging him on, John took that as permission to keep going for several more rounds, completely unaware that each one lasted longer than the one before or that he and Todd altered positions several times. By the time that John felt his cock finally softening completely after an orgasm, John was very nearly exhausted as he eased out of Todd.

"I… don't… think… I've… ever… had sex… like that before," John gasped out as he rolled off of Todd.

Todd chuckled in genuine amusement, "No, I would imagine not. From what information I have gathered, it generally takes human males much longer to recover from an orgasm. However, I suspect that Wraith biology won out when it comes to mating and influenced that as well."

"Yeah. That makes sense… I think. I'm not sure I have enough brain power right now to think of much," John spoke a little more surely as he recovered.

Todd got up, "I believe you have some food here, correct? We should eat something while the cycle is at a low point as I can tell we are only just beginning."

John nodded and forced himself up, Todd apparently knew where to find the food as he quickly gathered some fruit and brought it back to the bed along with glasses of water, "What do you mean a low point in the cycle?" John asked, accepting the apples and glass of water that Todd handed him.

"The mating ritual goes through cycles of sex, high points, where we are perhaps not even fully aware of our actions, our intercourse will be so intense, and low points, where we will be able to gain brief respites of rest before continuing. Now eat, I suspect this low will not last long," Todd responded before taking a full bite out of his apple.

As John could already feel his cock hardening once more at the sight of Todd standing naked in front of him while eating an apple, John realized that Todd probably wasn't joking and did his best to eat quickly.

Rikki had beat a hasty retreat from the room where her father was undressing Todd with his eyes. If Todd hadn't given an off-handed comment about the whole mating thing taking more than a day, Rikki would have suspected that they had forgotten she was present about half a second after Todd mentioned getting breakfast. Of course, she was fairly certain that they had both forgotten about breakfast given that the door had locked behind her, her father's doing no doubt, and there was a rather loud thud against the door that was _supposed _to be soundproof.

Rikki shook her head and headed for the main mess hall. She was fairly certain she would be able to locate Rodney there at this time in the morning, at the least, if not some of the others as well. Her best hope was finding Uncle Jack though, because she knew that he was a lot more open minded about things, except when it came to the enemy, but her uncle didn't view Todd as the enemy, he thought of him like Teal'c, so Rikki was sure he would be reasonable about this, or at least, hopefully, he would be.

Rikki found that luck was on her side when she located Mr. Woolsey and her uncle eating with Col. Carter, Col. Mitchell, Teal'c, and Rodney. Rikki collected food and headed for the table. No one batted an eye as she sat with them, for all that she was less than half the age of the youngest of them. Sam offered her a smile, "Morning, Rikki. Got any plans for today?"

Rikki gave her a tight smile, "Yep. Tom and I are finishing up with adapting the last two tractors to run on MZPMs. Also… I was kind of hoping you guys could call a command meeting… but without my dad or Todd… it's kind of important." She knew her voice was nervous, but to be fair, she did just hear her father slam a wraith into a door in what she had to assume was a precursor to lots of presumably kinky sex with said wraith, given the prior conversation and the way the two of them had been looking at each other like two men who hadn't had water for days finding a river.

Everyone's eyes which had turned to her when she started now widened and Rodney, the only one who hadn't been looking at her, snapped his head in her direction, "May I ask why we need a command meeting without your father or Todd, but it 'kind of important?'" Rikki's uncle asked, concern lacing his voice.

Rikki shifted in her seat, "It's about them and they would tell you personally, I swear, only they are a bit busy right now and that's all I can tell you while we are in the mess hall." Rikki blurted out just clear enough for them to understand.

"Is it an emergency?" Woolsey asked, concern now lacing his voice as well.

"No. Not an emergency… just kind of awkward and private, though it's likely to become public rather quickly given the… circumstances, which is why I need to tell you _now_, because you need to know at least the basic information before it becomes public knowledge," Rikki shifted uncomfortably as the adults eyes all bore into her. "And it's probably best if Doctors Keller and Beckett were present because they really do need to know about this, more than the rest of you and it will be easier for me to tell it to everyone at once." She knew she looked uncomfortable, but to be fair, she wasn't entirely certain she wasn't mentally scarred by the information that she knew for a fact that her father was currently having kinky wraith sex. It wasn't the fact that her father was having sex with _Todd_ that was damaging, just the knowledge that he was having sex at all. Somethings, kids just did not need to know about their parents in more than in vague theory.

Rikki had to rush through her breakfast after that because Woolsey was already tapping on his com to contact the rest of the people in the command structure and the others at the table looked like they were almost finished and also intently staring at her, no doubt hoping for a little more information before the impromptu command meeting. As soon as Rikki finished, Jack whisked away her tray and handed it off to a random Marine with orders to clear the rest of the table before ushering her out of the mess hall.

Rikki was virtually marched straight up to the conference room where the rest of the command staff was already waiting and Jack positioned the now nervous girl in the front of the room, "Now, what's so damn important that you're giving us all a near heart attack, Rikki?" Jack asked in his, 'don't fuck with me' tone of voice.

Rikki shifted, uncomfortable being placed on the spot like that. She hated being the center of attention. It was the biggest point of contention between her and her mother. Still, this needed to be said sooner rather than later and these people need to know, "So… apparently… wraith commanders… Um… okay, so Wraith commanders can… kinda reproduce _without_ a queen… um… Well… you see… they do it by forming… ah… bond of sorts… that's… well… partly psychic…" Rikki's face was red. She knew it was because she always blushed way too much when nervous.

"So… this is important why?" Dr. Jackson interrupted, not unkindly, but clearly wanting her to get to the point.

"DadandToddhaveawraithmatingbondandarehavingsexandaregonnahaveababy!" Rikki blurted out, near panicking and too rushed for people to fully understand.

"Um… I'm sorry, Dr. Sheppard, could you repeat that a little slower. I'm not sure all of us understood what you just said," Mr. Woolsey asked concerned. Rikki suspected none of them understood it as it was rather jumbled.

Rikki took a deep breath and forced herself to speak slowly, "Dad and Todd formed a wraith mating bond… and are currently having sex… and Todd can most likely get pregnant with Dad's baby… yeah…" She cringed as the room burst into an uproar, Rodney and Carter both disappearing from the room while announcing they were going to get to check on her dad.

It took a while for the near riot of command staff to calm enough for them to begin questioning Rikki coherently, but once they did Rikki found herself on the receiving end of the fifth-degree and was silently plotting to murder her father for forming the necessary components of attachment to Todd for the bond to occur. They really didn't calm until Carter and Rodney came back with a visual confirmation that Rikki's father was indeed in the midst of intercourse with Todd and involved enough to not even notice the pair breaking into the room and then departing.

Rikki glared at both of them, "Thank you so much for reminding me that my father is currently having sex. That is not the mental image a thirteen-year-old needs in her head, you know." After this was the fifth degree once more.

Rikki did her best to explain all of what her father told her and her theory on what was required to form the bond before getting frustrated when she got questions repeatedly that she didn't know the answer to. Finally, she snapped, "I don't _know! _I don't _know _why exactly Wraith biology is compatible with humans, ask Dr. Beckett that! I don't _know_ if Keller's retrovirus made this possible! Maybe! You guys are asking questions that I can't possibly answer! All I know is that it's happening and I'm gonna get a little sister or brother in a less than ten months, and I _really _don't need to think about my dad having sex, _okay_?!" She shrieked at them. The adults all fell silent.

It was Rodney, of all people, who finally broke the silence, "Sorry, Rikki. You act so mature, that we sometimes forget that you're still a kid. I imagine that kind of information could be a little unsettling. I certainly didn't want to know when my parents had sex and I imagine the visual of your dad with Todd can't be pleasant. I'm currently trying to figure out if brain bleach is possible. Or maybe a localized memory eraser."

"As nice as that would be, I doubt we will get it," Sam smiled wryly. "McKay's right though. I think most of us have started viewing you as a really tiny adult, even though you aren't. Sorry. I guess we can wait until Sheppard and Todd emerge from their… mating cycle…"

Everyone cringed at that, though Rikki for a different reason than the rest, she suspected. Rikki decided she was done with her part, "Right, well I need to get to finishing modifying the last of the tractors and then after that, we need to do the calculations for a portable shield generator for the people who will be working on the mainland since Todd is… to busy right now to finish it." Rikki flushed before beating a quick retreat.

Before she got out of earshot though, she heard Rodney add, "And I need to work on the… ah… brain bleach." Rikki chuckled before locating Tom in the large lab where he was already working on the modifications.

"Where had you been?" He asked, confused. "I thought we were going to start just after a quick breakfast.

"Um… you really don't want to know. As your best friend, you need to trust me on this one," Rikki grumbled. Another one of their friends, an intern who had been working at the Jeffersonian to get his doctorate in quantum mechanics snorted in amusement. "Shut it, Collins. Know what, for your mocking, I'm going to tell you, and you will regret it! My dad is currently having gay alien sex that will produce viable offspring and I had to inform his entire chain of command, I also now have a Wraith step-father."

Tom looked at her in horror while there were a series of groans as the other three had wacked their heads from where they were under the tractor they were working on. Tom jumped off the tractor while the other three came out from underneath it. Tom eyed her with genuine concern, "Please tell you just made that up on the spot."

Rikki shook her head, "Oh no. When I left my dad and Todd this morning, they were already eye fucking each other. If you don't believe me, Dr. McKay and Col. Carter can confirm it for you because they moronically broke into Dad's room to check on them."

Jeffery Collins let his jaw drop while Amelia Wilkes was still scrambling out from underneath the tractor, having been the one furthest underneath it. It was Amelia who asked, "How does sex make Todd your step-father?"

"The Wraith can create magical, involuntary psychic bonds with their soulmates or something, and apparently that is the wraith equivalent of marriage. My dad and Todd are apparently… that something. Not surprising really. Dad's been making puppy eyes at Todd every time he's seen him in my presence," Rikki grumbled while she finished braiding her hair back. Normally, she would have already done the task, but she hadn't gotten around to it this morning, as she was still trying to forget the awkwardness she _did _witness.

"Lucky Todd… Lucky your dad. Both of them are hot. Bet Col. Carter enjoyed that view," Amelia stated as she straightened herself.

"Yeah, Amelia, not all of us are into the kinky-alien, gay porn side of things. We don't need to visualize that," Jeff shot back.

Sebastian Black, the last of their little circle of friends from Rikki's first few years of college that had banded together because they were far more advanced than the rest of the students at Stanford, rolled his eyes, "Jeff, stop bitching, I agree with Amelia, they are kinda hot." He was also extremely gay, though you wouldn't have known it to look at him.

Rikki shuddered, "Don't need to know two of my friends have a kink for my dad, thanks for adding that image to the already horrifying one of my father and Todd having sex. Not that I have anything against Todd, but no kid wants to think about her father's sex life."

"Fair point," Sebastian stated, "Hey, do you know if Dr. McKay is seeing anyone?"

"He's dating Dr. Jennifer Keller, and I'm pretty sure he isn't gay, Seb," Tom supplied before Rikki could as he climbed back on the tractor. "Also, you need to get over your kink for much older guys."

Rikki snorted as she accepted the hand up from Tom to get on as well, "Yeah, Todd's like ten thousand years old. Seb's kink for older guys is nothing compared to my dad's."

"Except Seb thinks Todd is hot, so does Amelia. We have too many friends with weird kinks," Jeff added as he and the other two wriggled back under the massive tractor so they could finish the task of removing unnecessary engine parts and replacing them with a smaller receptacle for the MZPM, though it honestly wasn't that much smaller than the engine block and they had to modify the wiring quite a bit as well to accommodate for the differences in power created from a ZPM rather than a combustion engine.


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Just forewarning, there is brief mention of violence and non-con in this chapter. It doesn't occur, it is just discussed and for some people that is enough to be a trigger.**

**ANN: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. My laptop required a new charger.**

Chapter 10: Cultural Differences

John sagged down onto of Todd, spent. This time, after his release, Todd could feel the eb of the mating cycle flow away, finally. He shifted his exhausted mate off of him and stretched slightly before forcing himself to get up and retrieve water for himself and John. He filled a glass, drank it down and refilled it before bringing it back to the bed. He coaxed John to drink it down as well before allowing him to fall asleep. As his bond-mate's breathing evened out, Todd examined John's shoulder where the mating mark was placed and John's back where, in his own hazy state of passion, he had left a significant amount of scratches, though thankfully all were rather shallow.

Todd winced at this. The mating mark could, and would, be understood. It allowed for a slight alteration to his mate's scent glands as well as Todd's. It made it clear to any and all who had the capacity to scent it that John was Todd's mate. It meant that Todd was John's to breed, govern, and protect and any wraith who encountered them would know that. The scratches though, Todd had no doubt there would be some form of punishment for those.

Among the wraith commanders, there were carriers and sires, and while an unmated carrier could invite any sire they wished to their bed, sires would become aggressive and resentful for even the slightest damage inflicted during intercourse, for all that such damage would heal almost immediately. Being a carrier or sire only truly mattered when it came to intercourse and mating, but the rules were absolute among the wraith, a mated carrier was beholden to his sire's desires, whatever they may be.

Over the past ten thousand years of his life, Todd had seen this was hardly different among humans, for all that they had no male carriers. Many a female wraith worshipper had been subjected to similar violence by their human mates. Those were the easiest to turn into worshippers, as they at least received some form of reward from their wraith masters, unlike their human mates.

Todd simply had to trust that with John, he was not likely to strike at Todd's abdomen, not with the knowledge that Todd would now be carrying his child. John's honor was too strong to risk causing harm to their offspring. That combined with Todd's accelerated healing and the fact that John wasn't as physically strong as a wraith sire, and Todd knew at least the damage would be minimal and the pain brief.

That aside, he silently wished he hadn't inflicted the damage so soon into their mating. Unlike other sires while Todd was unmated, as a carrier, he had no right to defend against the strikes that John did rain down on him, and he had not yet garnered enough mutual companionship between them that John would hold back his blows.

Todd gently skimmed John's mind to ensure that his mate was deeply asleep and then retrieved more water and a cloth. He could at least clean the bite and scratches so that there would not be any lingering blood and they would be able to heal faster. Hopefully, that will assist in mitigating some of John's inevitable wrath.

Todd completed the task carefully and gently so as not to disturb John. Once he finished, he gathered the cloth and water and returned them to the bathroom before refilling the glass of water, drinking it down again and bringing more out so that when John awoke next, he could also rehydrate. Once Todd finished with this final task, he lay back down in the bed and once he was prone, John immediately wrapped an arm around Todd's waist, and tugged him close. Todd stiffened, uncertain if he had woken John, but another skim over the surface of John's mind proved that his mate was still firmly asleep.

Thus, he relaxed and allowed himself to slip into slumber as well, though not as deeply as his mate's. If John should wake first, unlikely as that was to occur, Todd wanted to be aware enough to at least guard his abdomen in the unlikely chance that John was angrier than anticipated, or he didn't yet remember that the mating cycle brought forth the guarantee of offspring. After several hours, he was roused when John moved away from him. Todd was instantly awake, though he didn't indicate he was.

He could feel from John's mind that his mate was still groggy as he reached over Todd and retrieved the glass of water, drinking it down. Once he finished, John got up from the bed and Todd cracked an eye slightly to watch his mate go to the bathroom. A few minutes later there was the sound of the waste receptacle flushing and the water of the sink turning on.

Half a minute after that, John came back in, set the now refilled glass of water on the bedside table next to Todd before settling back down and curling his body around Todd's. Within moments of this, Todd felt John's mind shift back into a sleeping state and allowed himself to do so as well.

The next time he awoke, Todd was the one who needed to relieve himself. When he returned, John was looking at him bleary eyed, "How long were we out of it?" John asked, as he pushed himself upright, wincing slightly in pain from his back.

Todd mentally braced himself even as he moved stiffly to sit beside John on the bed, "I am not certain. However, I believe that our breeding-cycle took longer than the average time. It is a great evidence of your stamina and our genetic compatibility to manage thus. Most wraith sires could not last for more than a day and a half with another half day for recovering. In this you have out done them, of that I'm certain."

John frowned at the stiffness of Todd's words, even as he praised him.

After their final round of 'mating' as Todd had referred to it, John barely managed to stay awake long enough to drink down the water that Todd brought him before crashing hard. He woke up a bit later, needing to go to the bathroom, which wasn't surprising. He drank down the water next to Todd first before bringing it into the bathroom.

He relieved his bladder, washed his hands and then refilled the glass. He wasn't aware of the low level of uncertainty skimming over the all too new bond until he reached over Todd to return the glass to where it was before, and it ratcheted up slightly. He felt mild confusion at the emotion, given he was borderline aware that it wasn't coming from him, but he was too tired to analyze it in depth. He thus dismissed it as probably some sort of dream Todd was having that was unsettling.

So, he did what he had every time Rikki had a nightmare when she was little and curled himself protectively around Todd before allowing himself to drift back to sleep. The next time he woke, it was because Todd was carefully extracting himself from John's octopus-like grip. John resisted the urge to tighten his hold, figuring Todd had a reason to get up similar to John's own in that he likely needed to pee. This time, however, John wasn't quite as exhausted, for all that his limbs still felt like he had run the Boston Marathon after taking down a dozen wraith drones.

This allowed for him be much more aware and this time, he definitely registered uncertainty, and a low grade of fear from Todd, and it was definitely from Todd since John knew nothing but that he had just had the best sex marathon of his life and the most uncomfortable parts of him were his balls, which were sore from overuse, and the bite on his shoulder, which he vaguely recalled Todd informing him was necessary at some point in all the sex, though he had no idea what for, and his back, which was a bit scratched up if he guessed correctly, but that came occasionally with really intense, rough sex.

When Todd came out of the bathroom and the fear ticked up a notch, John decided to ask the least threatening and offensive question his still exhausted brain could supply him with as he sat up, "How long were we out of it?" He figured it was possible that Todd was more aware during the lust-fueled haze, though it could have had a greater impact on Todd than it did on John, but John didn't think so, because Todd seemed to have been the one ensuring they ate and preformed the necessary bodily functions like relieve themselves and sleep during the low points in the cycle.

Todd's stiff manner and the fear increasing once more had John frowning as Todd sat beside him woodenly and responded, "I am not certain. However, I believe that our breeding-cycle took longer than average time. It is a great evidence of your stamina and our genetic compatibility to manage thus. Most wraith sires could not last for more than a day and a half with another half day for recovering. In this you have out done them, of that I'm certain." The response had John feeling almost as if Todd was attempting to placate him by appealing to his manly prowess. The question was why.

Still, John didn't want to spook the now clearly frightened wraith, something he had never seen before, so he forced himself to give an easy smile, making it appear as genuine as possible as he shifted to a more comfortable position that allowed him to watch Todd more fully, "Well, I'm not certain if that was meant to be a wraith version of a compliment, but I'm going to take it as one, since going more than four rounds in a single day is considered impressive for a human and I'm pretty sure we did way more than that, though I didn't keep track of exactly how many times we managed it. You're not sore, are you?" John asked, suddenly realizing that even with Wraith healing, it had to be rough to have bottomed so much over a period of days. Perhaps that was part of why Todd was afraid, or maybe John had been a little rough with him or had bitten too deep when making the scar on Todd's shoulder.

He froze even as Todd responded, "No, I found the entirety of our breeding-cycle quite pleasant and satisfying." However, Todd's tone and response didn't match with the feelings that came over the bond.

John carefully, reached out and placed a hand on the newly formed scar, a feeling of rage flooding his system at himself. He always made a point that no matter how into it during the sex, he would never _ever _seriously harm his partner and here he had done enough damage to Todd's shoulder with the damned bite to leave a _scar _on a _Wraith_.

He hadn't even known that was possible, given the wraiths' regenerative capabilities. When Todd flinched and the fear spiked, John recoiled like he'd been physically slapped. He carefully put enough distance between him and Todd in hopes that it would ease his mate's fear.

"Don't lie to me, Todd," He winced even as it said it, it had come out much sharper than he intended out of his anger at himself. Next time they went into one of those mating cycles, hopefully it would be less… intense because he didn't think he could bare repeatedly hurting Todd, it went against his nature to harm those he cared for. Sure, in a combat situation, he had no problem killing the enemy, but he would never harm his family, which Todd was now a part of. "You're afraid of me, I can feel it. It's practically pounding in my head and I know it isn't me, never mind that I fucking did enough damage to your shoulder to actually cause a scar. Damn, I'm sorry about that. I swear I wasn't aware of how much damage I did while we were… Well… I'm sorry alright. I know I can get a bit rough when I really get into it and the mating thing definitely had my inhibitions lower. So, I'm sorry."

John was rambling now, and he knew that Todd had to feel the guilt rolling off him in waves. Somehow, this seemed to help sooth some of Todd's fear, though that might have been because it was smothered with a healthy dose of confusion. Todd's response was not what John was expecting, "I am not afraid of you because of what occurred during our mating on your part, but rather because of the damage that _I _inflicted upon _you._" His response was controlled and more than a little stiff still.

It was John's turn to be confused, "Huh? Oh, you mean the biting thing? I remember you telling me it was necessary, not sure what for, but I get it, and it isn't like humans can heal like wraith can. Honestly, it only stings a little and you clearly cleaned it up at some point, though I'm not sure when. Sure, Carson and Keller are going to be a little pissed about it, but it's hardly the worst thing that any other partner I've had has done. Besides, it's kind of shallow. I doubt there will be even much of a scar from it. The damage to your shoulder had to have been way worse, given your whole regeneration thing." John felt a bit more guilt again, but didn't move to touch the scar again, unwilling to trigger more fear from Todd.

Todd got an odd expression on his face. Thankfully, the lingering traces of fear from him were rapidly fading, even as he spoke, this time a little less stiffly, "I was not referring to the 'biting thing' as you phrased it. I knew I told you about that during the mating. I am… I did significant damage to your back and you have a substantial amount of bruising on several parts of your body. Your ire over this is perfectly understandable, as would any punishment you choose to dole out, provided that it does not harm our offspring of course." At this, a little fear slipped back in and Todd wrapped a protective arm around his abdomen.

John felt horror crash over him at the realization that Todd expected, _anticipated_ some form of corporal punishment for some scratches and bruising. He moved almost instinctively, without being truly aware of it, as he shifted into Todd's lap and pulled Todd into as warm an embrace as he could manage with Todd being still apparently as stiff as a board.

He held the position, doing his best to send as much emotional reassurance as he could, until Todd relaxed a little against him, and he felt relief course over him from Todd's end of their bond. John mentally noted that if there was one advantage to this bond, it was that there would be no hiding of feelings like there was with Nancy. No bottling it up while John was unaware until it all exploded.

Once Todd seemed to realize that John _wasn't _going to hurt him, John pulled back slightly and then cupped Todd's face between his hands as best he could manage as the wraith had now moved his own arms to embrace John close.

John made a point of looking Todd dead in the eye and whispered with a firm warmth to his words, "I will _never, ever _physically attack you just because I am angry with you, Todd, especially not because we got a little rough while having sex. I know that… that in the _past_ I have made some pretty damned nasty threats to you, but that was before I got to _know_ you. That was before _this. _Do you understand me? You swore that you would never hurt my daughter or those I care about. I believe you and trust you to keep that promise, which means there will never be any reason to break mine, do you understand? Yes, I may get annoyed or irritated with you from time to time, especially if you get all know-it-all like Rodney does, but I will _never _hurt you and I would let myself die before hurting _any _of my children, be it Rikki, or any children we have. Okay?"

Todd tightened his grip over John as he spoke, the sincerity of his words conveyed both in the tone of his voice and in the warmth that came across the bond. It was still forming in many ways. Todd could feel just the whispers of John's thoughts wondering what had made Todd believe he would harm him. Just the barest hint of information that John thought it had been his previous threats to shoot Todd if he betrayed them again that might have been the source.

So, when John seemed to demand a verbal response, Todd nodded, "I admit, that was not the response I anticipated. In fact, I expected you to be a lot _less _violent than a wraith mate would have been for a similar infraction. I certainly have never had a sexual partner who apologized to _me _for the damage _he _caused, when the damage I caused was much more substantial."

He knew that his confusion was still present, but the damned warmth of emotion being emitted from John was shockingly soothing to any potentially lingering fear he might have possessed still. With the vaporizing of such fear, Todd realized how much he had really been feeling and wondered if perhaps that was the origin behind the force of John's softly spoken words.

John seemed to stiffen at the comment and Todd felt a new wave of rage, though the way it boiled, Todd realized that it was like the last wave and perhaps not directed at him given the hard toned question that John asked next, "But you did expect me to be violent, because all of your previous sexual partners have been if you… what?... Got a little rough?

"Todd, what those wraith did to you, it was _wrong._ Where I'm from, violence like that is considered abuse. Physically hurting your partner, or anyone close to you for that matter, is call domestic violence and where I'm from it's _illegal._ It's illegal for a very good reason, because it's _wrong. It's bad._ I never hit Nancy, no matter how angry I was when I learned that she cheated on me. I've never hit Rikki, for all that she can be a smart-assed little shit on occasion.

"I _will never _hit you, even if you do something to piss me off. I won't hurt you physically because it is the kind of behavior that is associated with the lowest of the low among humans. I can't promise that I won't hurt you emotionally, because I know that sometimes I suck at conveying things as well as I should, but I will try my hardest not to and if it ever happens unintentionally, or not, even though we have this weird emotional telepathy thing going on, I still want you to tell me. Tell me what I said that hurt you so I _know _I screwed up and can apologize. Okay?"

"I am far less likely to be hurt by something you say than any human mate you may have had previously, but I will endeavor to comply with your wish for me to do so if it occurs," Todd stated, relaxing once more as John's ire faded a bit.

This earned him a bright smile from John, "Good. Now, I think we should probably get cleaned up and head down to the infirmary, because it's been god knows how long since your last scan and Keller's probably losing her mind over the potential impact of the mating cycle on her information gathering over her retrovirus and dying of curiosity to learn all about how wraith males can carry babies. That and if Beckett finds out about this damned bite and the scratches and I _didn't_ go down there for him to examine it, he'll have my head."

Todd nodded his head in agreement and reluctantly released his hold on John. He knew intellectually that the mating cycle had caused a shift in his hormones to ensure that his body was a more hospitable environment for their offspring, but he felt a slight wave of insecurity as John got off him and moved towards the rest room.

"John," Todd impulsively called his mate's name. When John turned back to look at Todd, he offered up a hand to help him up.

Todd glanced at it before taking the hand. John tugged up to standing and then guided him to the bathroom. He found himself in the peculiar position of sharing a cramped shower stall with his mate who promptly insisted on cleaning him. Todd had never heard of bond-mates doing something like that for each other before. However, John, was the sire and it was hardly as if it was the worst thing in the universe to comply with.

Once John had the rest of Todd washed, he made the wraith turn around and lean his head back so that John could shampoo Todd's long hair. Todd couldn't help but feel that the sensation of his mate messaging his scalp was rather pleasant. Once a lather had been built up, John allowed the water to rinse it out before carefully working conditioner into Todd's hair, using his fingers to remove the majority of the tangles in his hair. Once more, he rinsed the hair. It was only then that John allowed himself to be cleansed. He permitted Todd to wash his still scratched up back and hardly flinched during the process before he scrubbed the remainder of himself down and briskly washed his own hair.

With a final rinse, the water automatically turned off, unlike how in Todd's shower, where he was required to use manual controls, "So, mind if I ask a question?" John asked he handed Todd a towel.

Todd only felt mild curiosity over the bond, no serious surface thoughts so he merely nodded.

"Is there any particular reason most wraith have long hair? Is it like a badge of honor, or considered fashionable among wraith or something?" John asked as he began toweling off, being careful of his shoulder and back.

Todd paused and thought on the question for a moment before answering, "I believe that for most wraith, it is a status symbol. Our hair grows at an extremely slow pace, so it's being of great length indicates our longevity."

John nodded slowly, "Right… so, you're probably attached to your hair." John finished toweling off and hung the now damp towel before heading back into the main room. He went to grab clothing from his dresser as Todd watched him from the doorway as he finished toweling off his long hair.

"Is there a particular reason that you were asking about my hair, John?" He asked as he decided it was as dry as it would get at present and scanned the floor for his clothing. While he was not overly opposed to remaining nude in his mate's presence, John had indicated that he intended for them to leave the room and Todd knew that humans weren't comfortable with nudity.

"Well, I was mostly just curious. I know Rikki likes her hair long because she's a complete girly girl who loves the way her hair curls when it is long. For her it's a total fashion statement, but it's also, as far as I've observed, a massive pain to maintain. I was going to suggest you get it cut, if you didn't really like it but most wraith expected you to wear it long for fashion or whatever, but if you're attached to it, then I won't," John explained quickly as he finished pulling on a new shirt and moved to pick up the clothing off the floor. He tossed Todd's pants and boxers to him before grabbing his own and tossing them in his hamper. He paused as he picked up the two completely decimated shirts though. "Wow, well, these are definitely dead."

Todd was confused by the casual change of topic. However, he did wish to know if his sire wished for him to cut his hair, because it was a simple change and he cared very little about his hair. He knew of a great many sires who were fair more demanding about the changes they wished their carriers to make, "Do you wish for me to cut my hair, John?" He asked perfectly willing to do so.

John shrugged as confusion flickered across the bond, along with cautious concern, "Well, I don't think that's something I genuinely have a say in, Todd. It's your hair. I think it would look nice whatever length you choose to have it. I only asked because I was curious why most wraith had long hair. Why? _Do _you want to cut it?"

Todd paused and contemplated the thought before responding, "I am rather indifferent to the idea. I would cut it if you wished me to, with no issue, but likewise I have no qualms keeping it long if that is your wish."

John's emotions turned to annoyance, "I wasn't asking if you would cut it if I asked you to. I don't get a say in what you do with your hair, Todd. It's your hair. I was asking if _you _wanted to cut it."

Todd knew he was showing confusion as well, "As my bond-mate, and the sire in our pairing, it is perfectly within your rights to express a desire for me to alter the appearance of my hair and it is something easily accommodated."

Todd felt a flicker of annoyance from John at this as he shook his head, "Todd, I have no _right _to tell you to do anything with your body, regardless of our status as mates. Your body belongs to _you_. I get that we're going to be completely monogamous, and I'm all for monogamy as long as both parties agree, but that doesn't mean that I own you."

Todd felt further confusion at this statement but realized that perhaps that John did not fully understand the expectations for bond-mates, "It _is _your right, as the sire in the bond-pair, to expect me to obey you, John. That is how it has always been among the wraith. The sire guides, provides, and protects, the carrier obeys and produces the offspring."

John sighed, "Okay, maybe we're having some slight miscommunication here, like we did earlier and you thinking I was going to hit you. Todd, for humans, neither partner in a relationship has the _right _to order the other to do something and expect it to be done. Now, in history, this was socially accepted, but it isn't today. We call it bodily autonomy. It means you and only you have the right to control your body and any actions regarding them.

"However, within society, there is a certain… subset… I guess you could say, that enjoy having complete control and a corresponding group that enjoy being controlled completely. We call them doms and subs. This is more of an instinctual desire rather than a societal expectation. Is this belief that I'm supposed to control you because that is the _rule _among wraith, that carriers _have to _obey their partners, or is it an instinctual desire for you that I take control?"

Todd processed this for a moment before answering the question, "I believe it may be both. I admit that I feel… uneasy at the idea that you would _not _express your desire for me to do something if you wish it. However, I believe that it is possibly in part because it is what is what would be expected of me by a wraith partner."

John nodded slowly, "Okay. Well, while I don't object to being in control, if that's what you really _need, _I'm not going to obsessively assert authority over you based purely on my whims. Also, as I said before, I think your hair would be attractive at any length, so it's entirely up to you what you want to do with it, just to be clear on that matter."

Todd nodded slowly. It was certainly not what he expected from John. John had always been rather dominant and assertive that Todd found it rather peculiar that he wasn't already asserting his authority in their mating. Todd considered this as they walked down the halls to the transporter. Then he realized that while John had _said _that he wouldn't order Todd about in their relationship, he had already insisted that they visit the infirmary to have Todd examined. This made Todd wonder if the bond _did _create an instinctive need for roles for who was in control. It was even possible if the more physical factors of the bond would be in full effect despite the fact that John wasn't wraith.

Todd's thoughts kept him from noticing that the majority of the people who were in the halls quickly moved out of their way as the pair passed, though it wasn't the actions of people who were frightened as Todd would have anticipated from humans. Instead, most seemed to give pleasant and happy smiles. Todd also failed to noticed John's confusion as they walked to the infirmary.

It didn't take long for John to realize that Todd was merely following John as if by motion and that his mind was wandering to other places. John couldn't tell exactly _what _Todd was thinking, at least not yet, but it wasn't directed towards dealing with Keller and Carson. It also wasn't directed towards the people they were passing in the halls.

There were more than a few military personnel congratulating John and Todd. John assumed they were referring to their bonding. It was a bit surprising to him that so many seemed to be genuinely happy for them despite the fact that they were basically at war with the wraith. Still, while he was confused as to _why _everyone seemed so pleased about it, at least it was a positive reaction to the situation.

Perhaps, John speculated, they viewed it as a guarantee that Todd would be firmly on their side going forward. When they arrived at the infirmary, John frowned as he saw his daughter on a table being run under a scanner while a concerned Tom looked on and Teal'c looked stoically over the scene. Keller glanced at him and her frown turned to a smile.

"Hey, look who's decided to finally end their honeymoon! I'll be right with you two. I just need to finish with Rikki, here," Jennifer commented looking perfectly calm.

"What happened?" John asked with suspicion as he immediately moved over to the table and noticed that his daughter had a rather large bruise forming on her shoulder along with some scratches around it.

"I am afraid that would be my fault, General Sheppard. Teyla went to the mainland for the day to assist in getting her people settled and to introduce them to the farmers who would be joining them as soon as living accommodations could be built for them. As a result, I offered to oversee Rebecca and Thomas's combat training. I was observing the two as they went through the process of practicing basic blocks and strikes when Rebecca's staff broke under the force of Thomas's blow. I apologize for failing to ensure the integrity of the training equipment at the beginning of the exercise. If I had done so, perhaps the injury could have been avoided," Teal'c seemed too serious. Tom looked like a kicked puppy and John figured he was beating himself up over the whole thing. He was Rikki's best friend, for all that he was five years older than her and had a good foot and a half on her height wise.

John winced at the information, "Don't worry about it. The staffs see a lot of use in the training rooms. They were probably worn down quite a bit. I'm sure it was an accident, especially since I know Tom wouldn't hurt Rikki intentionally. Well, Keller, how does her shoulder look?"

Keller examined the final scan on the screen and sighed, "Well, the good news is that nothing is broken. Bad news is that there's quite a bit of bruising, so no sparring practice or weight training for two weeks, no gun range training for a week, and no running for at least the next three days."

Rikki winced as she got up off the table and Tom was immediately at her side to help her down, "Again, I'm really sorry. I did say that Amelia should be your training partner. She's much smaller and…"

"And _Teyla _pointed out that it's better for me to learn to fight against people who were larger and physically stronger than me since the wraith are always going to be bigger and stronger, so I need to know how to fight that kind of opponent. It was an accident, Tom. You heard Teal'c, the staff I grabbed was one of the older ones and must not have been as sturdy as it was supposed to be," Rikki grumbled.

Both John and Tom winced in unison. Rikki hated being mollycoddled. She may have liked being a girly girl when it came to her looks, but she was also extremely independent minded. Nancy was absolutely right in saying that Rikki was more like John than she was like Nancy. John cleared his throat, "Right, well I'm sure Keller wants to give Todd his scan since he's at least a couple of days overdue, and I've got a bite on my shoulder that Beckett will want to check out."

"A _bite?"_ Keller asked incredulously as Carson joined them, having likely been summoned by a nurse.

"It is a necessary part of the initial mating ritual. Both the sire and the carrier must bite each other, at the point where the shoulder and neck meet, so as to permanently mark each as the other's mate. It also slightly alters the scent glands in order to indicate we are a bonded pair," Todd stated stiffly. John sensed slight concern from Todd as the wraith spoke.

Rikki looked distinctly uncomfortable, "Right! I'm just… going to get cleaned up and… work on shield generators, yeah, we need those built. Mr. Woolsey said the mainland would need them…" With that she fled, quickly being followed by an equally uncomfortable looking Tom.

Teal'c nodded respectfully to both John and Todd, "I wish to congratulate you both on your marriage. May you be blessed with many strong and wise children to bring honor to your family." With that he gave a slight bow and then left as well.

"Does everyone know about the whole mating thing?" John asked as Beckett waved for him to take off his shirt.

Keller meanwhile gestured for Todd to get on the scanner and lay down. Keller was the one to answer, "Yeah, sorry about that. Rodney was a bit… vocal about the whole thing. It turns out some Marines overheard us discussing it and by the end of the day it was all over Atlantis. Woolsey kept getting asked if it was true, and by day three of you guys being shut up in your room… well I think he just felt it would be better to clear things up.

"He sent out a mass email to everyone, and do mean _everyone_, that you two had developed a deep and sacred bond and were occupied with the completion of the bond. He also heavily implied that this bonding would be good for everyone because it meant that ultimately if the wraith were genetically close enough to… have children with us, that meant that the retrovirus was the morally correct route to take and the genetically most beneficial as well because if wraith and human DNA were sufficiently blended together, it was probable that it would give faster healing capabilities and a greater life span in future generations."

"Then your ex-wife spread it around that yah were a hopeless romantic and thus this 'deep and sacred bond' was likely an indicator of soulmates and true love and yah being star-crossed lovers kind of thing because yah were human and wraith and all that lovely non-sense and aye think that everyone was so starved for something happy tah focus on that they latched onto it with iron fists. There's a small 'anti-integration' lot that is being fueled by Mayor Cole that are calling it disgusting, but for the most part everyone is kinda just telling them to shove off since it's something sweet," Beckett added. He tutted at the bite mark and scratches before retrieving an ointment and beginning to apply it to the bite.

"It also doesn't hurt that Teyla played up all your interactions with each other as two people falling in love while trying to fight it because you were on opposing sides of a war and then implied Todd had chosen to switch sides for you, John," Keller smirked while examining Todd's scans. "Now, Todd, I was previously thinking that this organ here was your version of an appendix, but it's now swollen, is that your… uterus… I guess is the most appropriate term."

She turned the computer for Todd to examine and pointed to the mass in question. Todd looked at it and nodded, "If by uterus, you mean where I will grow and carry my and John's offspring, then that is correct. We generally refer to it as the carrier sack. Sires do not possess them, but carriers do."

"Yes, that's what I mean. We don't have males who are capable of giving birth, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit invasive about my questions, but given how recently you received the retrovirus, I'm going to be a little paranoid. So, is it supposed to be swollen like this so soon after… conception? It's at least three times the size it was in your last scan," Keller stated as she pulled up his previous scans on her data pad.

"Yes, it is supposed to be enlarged. At present, it contains anywhere from two to three hundred fertilized eggs. Over the next two weeks, it should shrink down almost to its previous size while my body assesses each of the developing embryos for genetic viability and breaks down the less than desirable embryos. Once two weeks have passed, anywhere from four to ten of the most optimal embryos will be all that remain. They will then be allowed by my body to develop for up to another six weeks before my body will determine which of them would produce the most favorable genetic results and eliminate all but one," Todd explained.

Beckett had stopped what he was doing and moved over to listen more closely to Todd as he explained and to look at the most recent scan. John figured that Beckett was done with him as he had already bandaged his shoulder and so he put his shirt back on and joined them. Keller seemed a little surprised by Todd's explanation, though given what John knew of human reproduction he wasn't surprised by her surprise.

"Well, that's… I suppose a rather unique genetic approach for procreation. Do you know how exactly your body determines what it considers the most 'favorable' genetic results?" Beckett asked, clearly excited. John realized that it made sense that he would be, given that Beckett was a geneticist well before he joined the Stargate Program.

"It is unknown for certain, but the general consensus is that it is traits the progenitors consider most desirable that my body will chose. This is aided by the mental link I share with John," Todd explained. "Other than the swollen carrier sack, which I assure you is perfectly normal at this stage in the procreation process, did you find any other anomalies?"

Keller turned back to the scan and checked the read outs thoroughly before looking over the previous scans. Finally, she shook her head, "Other than the scar, which based on your previous explanation about biting, I'm guessing is supposed to be there, nope. Everything appears to still be perfectly normal. You didn't have any difficulties with eating during the… mating cycle?"

"No more than anticipated. The compulsion to copulate does prevent consumption of substance, however there are slower periods where we were able to eat and rehydrate. I suspect the issue was that in all other cases, the wraith pair will feed before and after the cycle but not during it. I suspect there won't be any lingering issues," Todd responded. "However, it would be wise for both of us to get a large meal after this as we did expend a great deal of energy."

Keller and Beckett nodded in agreement, though Beckett added a comment, "Just make sure you keep an eye on that bite, John. Keep it clean and bandaged and if it looks like it might be getting infected come back here."

John nodded and waved as they left the infirmary. He headed straight for the mess hall as he was extremely hungry, now that Todd had brought it up, but he was still tired as well. He did forget to ask Beckett and Keller exactly how long they had been occupied in their 'mating cycle', but apparently it had been at least three days and enough time for most of the people to adjust to the idea of John and Todd together.


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 11: Mess Hall Mayhem and Revelations

John opted to go to the main mess hall with Todd, despite realizing that it was well into the day, because he figured if there was going to be a fuss, it didn't matter where it occurred and if it was lunch time, than at least they could eat with his friends. Well, all his friends except for Ronon. The man, while not pestering Todd the past few weeks due to him acting as a counselor for the orphaned kids, having survived the destruction of his own world, still hated Todd. John wasn't certain how Ronon would handle the whole bonding thing.

When they entered the mess hall, people noticed rather quickly, and the place fell silent as they made their way to the food line. John waved and smiled but otherwise ignored the stares while sending Todd a mental suggestion to do the same. Whether Todd fully got it, or he just opted to ignore them on his own, he did so. John could definitely sense a level of wariness towards the crowds from Todd. However, as they collected trays and got their food, the chatter picked back up.

John scanned the room and spotting Rodney with Lorne, John headed for that table with Todd in tow. He received a grin from Lorne while Rodney was too busy stuffing his face, "I see you've resurfaced, sir. Congratulations! Todd, you too."

John nodded and smiled at his XO, "Thanks, Lorne. How long were we… out of it? Our perception of time was a little… distorted."

Lorne smirked knowingly, "Oh, I bet it was, sir. It's been four and a half days since Rikki told us that you were um… consummating your 'sacred bond'."

John endured the good-natured ribbing, it was better than judgement or censure for something what was beyond his explanation, "Well, I'm pretty sure we spent some of that time sleeping. Still, apparently I out stamina Wraith Sires." He shot back smugly.

McKay groaned in annoyance, "Seriously? You do know that when Rikki told us about this whole… thing… that Sam and I went to check on you and were _permanently_ traumatized. We do not need all the gory details of your sex life."

John rolled his eyes, "Good, because I wasn't planning on sharing them. That would just be creepy and weird. So, what did I miss while I was occupied?"

Lorne shrugged, "We've cleared ten acres of land, mostly using lightsabers and the tractors that are all now completely modified. Rikki and Dr. Richards are still working on the portable shield generator, though, they'll probably return that to Todd, now that he's back in action. Teyla is currently getting the Athosians set up on the mainland. Ronon convinced Woolsey and our fearless elected leaders to allow him to set up some basic martial arts classes for the kids aged five and up in order to help them work through their emotions and regain confidence. Romanov and McDougal are helping Ronon with that. Bisset and Becker have a census going for anyone in the city with sword skills or lightsaber skills, just in case we have Star Wars fans who actually mastered those already, so they can be trained up on the lightsabers and then train others."

John nodded while McKay pipped up, "On the scientist end, we've finished fitting all the 304s with control chairs and drones. I also assigned Jeanie and Bill to oversee Tunney and a crew at backward engineering the Jumpers. We need to make more asap if we want to keep everyone safe. If the… _enemy_ Wraith get the information that Earth's been destroyed, which it is going to get to them eventually, there's no telling what they'll do. On a side note, I am seriously regretting putting Tunney, Nye, and Tyson on my lists after Jeanie joined us here. They're beyond obnoxious, demanding information from Zelenka and I every other minute. Seriously, they need to just learn to read Ancient, or operate the translation matrix we've got set up. I even gave Rikki permission to take over Janus's lab so that she and her little band of miscreants could escape their pestering. I don't want them corrupting my minions."

Todd tilted his head at this information, "If you disliked them so much, why did you request their safety in the event of your world's destruction?"

"Don't call Rikki your minion, Rodney. Todd, it's because he hates them for mocking him for years when he knew things they didn't even conceive of as possible so he wanted to prove them wrong, though to be fair, Tyson and his family were probably already on the priority list, given his reputation and connections to NASA. Tunney, he's the one who stole you and Jeanie's bridge thingy, right? Why is he pestering you for information if he's working under Jeanie anyway?" John explained to Todd before turning to McKay with the question.

McKay was about to respond when a shout shattered through the mess hall causing everyone to fall silent and look at the source of the commotion, Kavanagh and Major Cole, "_Shut UP! Just Shut up, Cole!_ I am sick of you and your little jack-booted-thug lackies pestering me about joining into your imbecilic 'We hate difference' club you have going! I want absolutely _nothing _to do with closed-minded morons like you! I don't care that Gen. Sheppard is gay or bi or whatever. He can be whatever the hell he wants to be as long as he keeps us safe like he has for the past _six years_. I don't care if he's fucking a wraith. That wraith has more courage in his little finger, turning his back on his people to do the right thing, than you do in your whole body!

"Do I like that Sheppard hasn't always played by the book? No, it's bothered me, just like Dr. Weir's allowance of what I consider to be ethically immoral experimentation on POWs, but that man at least fights for the _right_ _reasons, damn it_. He is fighting to protect humanity! The sanctity of _life_! Those are things I can sure as hell respect him for. It's a damned sight better than your twisted priorities, like sexuality and ethnicity.

"Furthermore, it does not bother me in the _slightest _that half our command staff are part Alteran. Especially not if it makes them more effective in keeping us alive! I'm not some xenophobic moron who'd rather be dead than answer to a man whose only half human. At least he's got the brains from it to run the technology that we need to _survive_.

"And finally, and this really is the most important part for you to understand, _Cole_. _I. AM. GAY_. I have absolutely zero interest in women. And I _hate_ homophobic assholes like you, because my high school sweetheart _killed himself _after becoming severely depressed when his parents rejected him when he came out to them and the enormous amount of bullying that he suffered from. So, no, Cole, I want _nothing_ to do with you and your deranged little band of imbeciles who can't even begin to comprehend how utterly depraved you truly are to be obsessing over who a general choses to love among _our _people, because yes, Todd is one of us now, rather than focusing on the survival of our fucking species," Kavanagh was huffing and his expression red with rage as he finished.

Cole, who at first looking stunned, now just looked at Kavanagh with disgust. However, before he got a chance to respond, someone started clapping. They were swiftly joined by others, along with cheers and whistles of approval, shocking Kavanagh and causing Cole to beat a hasty retreat. John was a bit surprised to hear Kavanagh come so fully to his defense like that, or at all, as he was convinced the man hated him. Apparently, that was not the case at all.

He, Lorne, and McKay had joined in the clapping which had turned into a standing ovation, for all that it was abundantly clear that Kavanagh was blushing for an entirely different reason now. Dr. Bill Lee came out of the crowd and led the startled man from the mess hall quickly. John turned back to those at his table and could see and sense that Todd was baffled by the event.

McKay had a delighted expression on his face, "Huh, Kavanagh has a spine, who'd've thought. Granted most of his argument was about how Sheppard's the best chance of our survival, so his motives are pretty selfish, but damn did he put Cole in his place."

"I am confused. What is gay?" Todd asked his brows furrowed.

"You are. Or rather, your sexual orientation is. It's when you prefer sex with someone of the same gender. General Sheppard would count as bisexual as he likes both genders, or is it heteroflexible? Is it just Todd, sir?" Lorne asked with uncertainty.

John snorted, "My preferences are based on personality, not gender… or species apparently. There's a reason you see me flirt a lot, but never actually go for a relationship most of the time. Though, it looks like I'm permanently spoken for, not that I'm complaining." John winked at Todd who looked confused still.

"Why are your preferences for the gender you have intercourse with relevant?" Todd asked still baffled. John got the sense that Todd felt that it was illogical behavior and felt proud of himself for being able to tell what Todd was generally thinking, if not the exact thoughts just yet.

Before anyone at the table could answer, John was startled to hear Nancy answering, "Because some people are nosy, homophobic idiots who need to get their heads extracted from their asses. Apparently, Jerry is among those imbecilic ranks. And believe me, when I learnt that shocking little tidbit, I asked Jack to see to getting Jerry some other accommodations. I didn't want his poison causing Todd unnecessary stress in his condition. Rikki explained everything and I will not be party to the placing of pregnant _persons_ under unnecessary stress." Nancy was shockingly put together in the clothing provided to everyone.

"I take it the engagement is off?" John asked for all that he suspected he already knew the answer to that question. LGTBQ+ were one of the few points where John and Nancy had never had any issues. She had been a strong ally and it was the one major point Nancy had always disagreed with the Catholic Church on.

"I threw the ring at his face when he called you disgusting. It hit him in the eye too. For goodness sake, if the brief history of Earth we've all been provided with is even half true, you've saved him from being wraith lunch numerous times but he thinks what two consenting adults do behind closed doors is what's important," Nancy huffed as she took the seat next to Lorne, setting her tray down. "I must have been blind to think he was a good life partner. I'm officially pleading temporary insanity for allowing him to get between me and our daughter, by the way."

"Still doesn't make what you did okay, Nancy," John warned giving her a pointed look.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. My priorities… I didn't have them straight. I let my insecurities win out over my parental instinct. I know, it's no excuse, I'm still a terrible parent, and I… I deeply regret my… my issues. I think I'm going to see if I can arrange for some therapy… seeing the world blow up, my brother, who'd never even met me choosing to protect me, my father being an alien… My fears of rejection… I have a _lot _to work through," Nancy admitted uncomfortably. "And I am _not_ dating again until I get my shit sorted out because _clearly_ my judgement is impaired."

John offered her a genuine smile, "I'm glad you're going to get help. You know how I feel about therapy. We've got some good people here on Atlantis too. Which is good because they are probably the only ones still around. Teyla is also a good sounding board if they can't fit you in immediately though. I don't know whether Rikki will forgive you or not for what you did, but it's a good first step."

"He's right, you know, there's no shame in admitting your need to work through some things or just get them off your chest," McKay added. "I've personally gotten extensive therapy, especially since we arrived in Pegasus originally. The stress is very present in this job."

Nancy nodded but didn't comment. She glanced at Todd instead and smiled at him, "Congratulations, by the way. I forgot to say that earlier. Getting to bring a life into the wor… universe is an amazing experience, even if Rikki did like to play bongo drums on my bladder for the second half of my pregnancy with her. You made a good choice with John. He'll be there for you through the whole thing. He may be a bit of a mother hen, though." She sounded a little wistful to John, but he ignored it. Nancy was smart enough to know that _that _bridge was well and truly burnt. Even without Todd being in the picture, John was never going back to a relationship with Nancy.

Instead, he decided to tease her, "Hey, if I recall correctly, you liked me making sure…" John was forced to stop when Rikki and Tom burst into the mess hall and then rushed over to their table. John briefly wondered what had her worked up but his answer was soon given.

"Dad! Rodney! You're not going to believe what we just found in Janus's lab! You _have_ to see this!" Rikki was practically vibrating with excitement. "Mom, you need to come too! And Uncle Jack, where's Uncle Jack?"

John shook his head and commed Jack to meet them at Janus's lab. Rikki bounced on the balls of her feet as John took the last few bites of his food. McKay had already finished. Nancy hadn't even started but looked like she was torn between eating and seeing what Rikki was worked up about. Rikki solved her issue for her, "Just bring it with you. You can leave it on my desk while you see what we found. It's really important, Mom."

That decided her and Nancy just picked up her tray to follow the others out of the mess. Lorne offered to get rid of everyone else's trays and meet them at the lab. Tom and Rikki were grinning maniacally as they herded the group to the transporters and pressed the section for the closest one to Janus's lab. Almost immediately the group was herded out of the transporter and down the hall to where the wall that hid Janus's lab was. The vibrational emitter that made it possible to pass through the wall was on already, so the group was immediately ushered into the secret lab.

"Alright, what's your amazing, important discovery, oh, minion of mine?" McKay asked, curiously. He ignored John's glare at calling Rikki a minion again.

Rikki walked over to a wall and pointed to a spot on it. McKay walked over and huffed annoyedly, "Someone vandalized the lab wall with the Starfleet emblem? That's what the fuss is about? Granted, it's blasphemy, really, but it's not…"

"Noooo. Dad, come here and press it," Rikki's voice sounded of pure glee as she interrupted McKay, just on the edge of squealing.

John indulged his daughter, walked over, and pushed on what was, in fact, the Starfleet emblem. Almost immediately the wall dissolved before him, revealing a second, smaller section to the lab. McKay vocalized what everyone else was thinking, "Holy crap! Why is the Starfleet emblem the indicator for a hidden room within the secret lab?! _W__hy _is there a hidden room inside of a secret lab?!"

Rikki just kept bouncing and walked into the room, being followed immediately by everyone. The small area held a dais similar to the one that was connected to the hologram room they had found they first arrived on Atlantis. The one difference was the small pedestal with a hand shape on it. Rikki's grin had only grown as she waved for John to activate what he guessed could only be a hologram.

He approached it and placed his hand on the pedestal. His jaw dropped when a hologram of his mother appeared. His heart was in his throat as the hologram began to speak as it smiled at him, "John, If you're watching this, that means that, at the very least, a core group of humanity survived the destruction of Earth by the Naari, your daughter and your brother's family among them. Please know that Earth's destruction wasn't something we, or you, could have prevented. There was no path, no future I saw that didn't hold that event within it. Earth's destruction, for some reason, was a fixed point in time.

"The events before and after held no influence on it. I do not know where the Naari come from at present, only what they are called and that they despise any form of advanced civilization that will not bend to their domination. That is, as far as I know, their reasoning for destroying Earth. Myself and a group of Alterans who believe that humanity as a whole deserves a fighting chance at survival, regardless of what the council have decided, have worked tirelessly to try to bring events ten thousand years in our future onto a better path through a great deal of maneuvering and manipulation.

"For all this, there is still no guarantee, even as I record this, that the events will have worked out as I hope. Our ideal goal was for you to meet, and have child with Romulus's daughter, whom in my visions, at least the ones the child exists in, will be called Nancy. If this happens, the odds are good that the girl, who you will name Rebecca, will be able to rediscover how we created the potentia, or ZPMs as you call them.

"If you are watching this, then one of several scenarios have occurred, leading to the discovery of this room, though my granddaughter finding it is the one I prefer because that _is _the best outcome I've managed to see. It means you and Todd have met and bonded. It means enough of humanity is alive on Atlantis that, given the correct tools, you have a good chance of bringing about the changes you and Todd seek. To help the Wraith evolve into something more than they are now.

"That will be necessary if you are to defeat the Naari when they come for you here, as they eventually will, once they've destroyed every advanced civilization in Avalon. Whether or not this is the case, it is imperative that humanity survives and so you must find a way to help the Wraith free themselves from their need to feed on humans if you are to have the numbers necessary to win.

"Now, as for acquiring the tools you're going to need to succeed, don't worry, we've already put all the pieces in place for them. The Nox will shortly realize that Earth has been destroyed and they will know where to find you and who to bring. The surviving Jaffa, those who will choose not to make a foolish stand too early against the Naari, the To'kra, and the last of the Tollan.

"This should help increase your numbers of fighters. In addition to this, if you go to the world you first visited after arriving on Atlantis, Athos, within the ruins of their old city, which you will need Todd to navigate without triggering hidden wraith sensors, you will locate a large hidden lab the city was built on top of. The entrance is located in the central most building of the city.

"Within this lab, you will find everything you'll need to aid and encourage the Wraith in removing their need to feed on humans and to eventually fight the Naari. These tools will require your completion of them due to the manner in which they were created, but I suspect that Dr. McKay and Rebecca will have little trouble leading the efforts in getting everything into shape. Just make sure you bring Todd and Rebecca with you when you search the city. That will make it easier to find the lab.

"When the time approaches for this all to occur, all of us will resume our mortal forms, at least for a time, to ensure that the… _correct_ people are born.

"John. My first born. I know that learning the truth of who I am, and the truth that I chose to have you and your brother as part of an effort to save humanity is a hard one. I know that it is a _heavy_ burden I will be placing on you. Know that that doesn't mean that I only do so out of necessity. I already love you, your brother, and your father. I already know that this love will prevent me from re-ascending when it would otherwise preserve my life. This is a choice I make _now_. I will not abandon you or David, or your father Patrick and the others will not allow me to ascend and then resume my mortal form for so… _mundane_ a reason as cancer. I have already accepted this. I accept it because I love you and I love David and I love your father, Patrick.

"I have a message for David as well. Please let him watch it. And Romulus has insisted on leaving a message for his children, Jonathan and Nancy as well, and it's only fair that he should do so, as he is… less than pleased with what he _must _do to make events go towards the best possible path for humanity," With this the hologram ended and John numbly stepped back from the dais.

Rikki wrapped her arms around him tightly, "I didn't know it was going to say all that. Her message to me was only that she was proud of me, of the future I have ahead of me and that she wanted to tell you something important." Her voice as muffled a bit with her face buried into his chest, but John just held his daughter tightly as she hugged him.

"It's okay, kiddo. That just answered… a lot of questions…" John realized tears were running down his face.

"Good thing I got here in time to hear all that. Well, Nancy, care to find out what our illustrious _dead-beat_ father wished to tell us, ten thousand years ago?" Jack asked, John startled a little at realizing he must have arrived just after them to have heard everything.

A glance at Nancy showed her expression was grim and she nodded but made no move to go to the dais. It was Jack who did so. The moment he placed his hand, the hologram of a man appeared, Romulus this time, "Jonathan, Nancy. If you are watching this, that means that Ata's planning, which I assure you was extensive as was the energy she exhausted in searching her visions to find the right paths for us all, has paid off. This also means that I have done something that I would never have otherwise done, if it were not for the absolute necessity of saving humanity, and what remains of the Alteran legacy.

"It means I have abandoned my son and daughter. I _despise _that that is the path that must be taken. That it is what is necessary to ensure that you both have the drive needed to do what it takes to protect Earth. And Nancy, your actions, what you have done so far, while watching this, may not make you proud now, but your future, what's ahead, you are just as vital to saving humanity as Jonathan already has been in his fight against the Ori and Goa'uld. You are more important than just the child you bore and in the coming months and years, it will show.

"I know that I will have to tell you both that you aren't good enough, that I could never be proud of you. These are _lies._ I have heard everything that Ata has told me of what kind of people you will grow to be after I leave and the strength you will possess because of my actions. I can not be prouder of you two than if I had been the one to guide you both to the paths you take personally.

"My son, who will be the frontline against the insidious Goa'uld, who will shield Earth and all the life it holds for _years_, you have more courage than I can imagine possible. Jonathan, you possess more spirit than a thousand Alteran warriors. You possess a strength of heart greater than anything describable. What you have accomplished, what you've still to accomplish, know that everything you have done and will do has made me proud.

"My daughter, who I so harmed with my words. I am sorrier than you can comprehend that they have made your life such a struggle. And yet, I know they will make you stronger. You devote yourself to learning, to understanding languages in a way few others could even conceive of in _my world._ Your understanding of politics and social dynamics is astounding.

"If you continue to follow this path, the good you can accomplish, in helping humanity rebuild and restructure is almost limitless. You feel deeply, Ata has made that clear. There is no shame in it, no matter what your mother claimed to you when you were young. Your heart, the depth of your emotions, those are an incalculable strength. It is a strength that many Alterans have lost, giving themselves over the concepts of pure logic and science. They only see the immediate future at present. They refuse to see the damage that their refusal to interfere later will cause. Nancy, you possess something that they could not comprehend with your deep emotions. Please, do not hide or bury them.

"My children, Ata has told me that my path will not have an easy route back to you. I will be punished for by the other ascended ones after leaving Nancy. That does not mean I will not try, if I can remember. There are no guarantees, but I will fight to remember, if I can. If you never see me again in person, know that it is not because I have no desire to see you again, to see what you become, but because the world the others chose to exile me to has no means that will allow me to return to you," With that the hologram of Romulus disappeared and John watched as Rikki detached from him and engaged in a group hug with Jack and Nancy.

Nancy, who was openly crying. It was the first time that John had seen that since she had been pregnant with Rikki. He joined in the group hug and was welcomed. The hug didn't last long, and John was the first to pull away, knowing that his was more a hug of solidarity than for mutual comfort like it was for the others.

Nancy wiped away her tears and then laughed harshly, "He didn't mean it? He told me, a five-year-old, that I'd never amount to anything and he only said it to make me more determined? I… I don't know what to think about that. I'm not sure what to think about that."

"Don't. Not unless the old man shows up… then… well we'll figure it out. At least we know he had a damned good reason for doing what he did," Jack shrugged as he released his hold on Rikki and Nancy.

"Right, yeah, I _so_ need a therapist. This is going to take all the therapy in the universe to work through," Nancy muttered with a huff as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that everyone on Atlantis is gonna need therapy when they learn the only reason we're all alive is because my mom decided to go all in on visions of events ten thousand years into the future," John pointed out. He turned to Jack. "So, you want to be the one to inform Woolsey and our remaining elected officials?"

"Apparently, we're following _your_ mother's plan, so I vote you do it. Though, personally, I say we just make them watch the hologram she left for you and then head to Athos to find this supposed super cool lab. Also, prep. We need to prep for the arrival of the remaining advanced civilizations from the Milky Way," Jack suggested.

John sighed, "Can we hold off on Athos until the day after tomorrow? I mean, it's already been an emotionally stressful few days for everyone. Kavanagh threw everyone for a loop in the mess hall an hour ago. Rikki injuring herself during training. Add in my getting wraith married to Todd. Maybe the holy grail weapon quest can wait another couple of days?" John pointed to his daughter's arm in a sling to make his point.

"You just wish to find a way around requiring my accompanying you to Athos. You should know that the Wraith are aware that the old Athosian world is abandoned. The risks will be minimal as long as we avoid any wraith traps or sensors and I am well versed, I assure you, in detecting those and deactivating them," Todd was surprisingly confident in his statement, considering that John knew he had hit the nail on the head with his point of reluctance. "The Wraith are not in the habit of sending scouts to empty worlds unless they intend to use them themselves."

"It's not just you I'm worried about. Mom said we needed Rikki too and she's never been anywhere other than Earth and Atlantis, and she's hurt right now," John pointed out before pulling his trump card. In an ironic twist, the fact that Todd seemed unwilling to disobey him directly could work in his favor on this matter. "Besides, I'm still exhausted from the past few days and I can tell you are too."

Todd nodded readily at this. Jack shrugged, "Ata seemed to imply we had plenty of time to prepare for our next attack from the Naari, or anyone for that matter. Plus, we should probably not go off in the late afternoon, if it can be helped anyway. From what I understand Athos's days are incredibly short."

John nodded in agreement to that. With this decision, they exited the small hologram room and the wall sealed up behind them, "I can't believe your mother is a Trekkie." Jack remarked as they left Janus's lab.

"Yeah, we used to watch it with her as kids. Mom actually taught me Klingon and Vulcan," John chuckled.

He sobered quickly though and was startled to feel a wave of reassurance from Todd. It dawned on John that Todd was just as much a pawn of his mother as John was. Yes, Ata Roalbel had married his father and given birth to John and Dave so that one day he could be this important means of protecting humanity. However, long before she did that, she planted the seed of hope in Todd that had kept him going for ten thousand years. A promise of being free of a hunger that Todd so rightly despised, all so that Todd would be here now, to act as a guide to other Wraith in a path of evolution.

John absently listened to Jack com Woolsey, Wallace, the two PMs, and Laundry as they made their way to the main conference room. They all waited there for the other people who were nominally in charge to arrive. It occurred to John that they were going to need a formal form of government eventually. He glanced at Nancy. Romulus had all but implied that that was her job, to work out Atlantis's leadership which was currently a group of three elected leaders, a lawyer turned appointed leader of a colony, and three generals.

He couldn't consider that line of thought further, however, before the others arrived and everyone got into the hours' long session of the vital new information they had. Information that only existed because John's mother was capable of precognitive visions of possible futures that spanned millennia into the future from her time of birth. Yeah, he and Dave had never stood a chance with their shenanigans as kids for good reason. Kid antics didn't put up much fight to an all-knowing power like his mother.

After hours of debate, John led the whole group back down to the hidden room inside the secret lab to show them the hologram that his mother had left him, letting it play through completely. The three politicians gave John awe-filled looks that unnerved John more than a little. He realized that his mother's words of it being a heavy burden to bear the fate of humanity on his shoulders meant they thought that he was literally destined to save everyone remaining.

Woolsey waited while the others filed out until it was just Todd and John with him. He stated explicitly that he needed a private word with them, "I want you two to know that I understand exactly what those three were thinking. Oh, Landry and O'Neill are too practical to allow a hologram from an Ancient get to them. They're used to the Ancients being less than perfect. We know that. The others will see in time. Meanwhile, we have plenty of time to get things sort. Todd, if you need time to rest because of your pregnancy, take it. Don't allow others to stress you because they suddenly think your desire to save your people is the only hope of survival for all of us. Take care of yourself too."

"That is… considerate of you, Mr. Woolsey. I will keep that in mind," Todd responded, though John could tell that Todd didn't understand that Woolsey was just trying to ensure that Todd didn't stress out too much, for all that it wasn't in his mate's nature.

In truth, John would likely be more stressed about everything than Todd was. John gave Woolsey a confirmation that he would indeed attend the morning meeting before he led Todd back to the mess hall for the second time that day. It wasn't a drama filled meal like the previous one had been. Instead, John and Todd ate with Nancy and Jack who both kept quiet. It was a meal spent mostly in quiet contemplation.

When it was over, John had a final task to accomplish. He suggested Todd head back to their room as the wraith was exhausted still and his presence for this wasn't necessary. It took a bit of effort to locate Dave. His brother and sister-in-law had taken on the monumental task of trying to organize the small school system that had barely been half set up for the kids already on Atlantis prior to Earth's destruction and organizing it, along with the additional teachers that had been grabbed from all the various schools into a somewhat structured school system to accommodate the over ten thousand kids that slotted into the K-12 grades for not only the refugees and original Atlantis residents but Athosian children as well. There were even suggestions being made of offering up schooling to other worlds, to strengthen alliances. That idea was a while off though. John had no idea how they were going to work out teaching the more advanced stuff after that.

John eventually found Dave and Julia with a mass of teachers who were discussing a section of empty rooms on the southwest pier's lower level that were apparently under consideration for classrooms. He didn't feel too bad interrupting as he suspected that the group wasn't aware of how late it had gotten. They were teachers, for the most part, after all.

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt your important discussions, but it's getting on to the later time for dinner, and I would hate for all of you to miss the meal. Everyone needs to keep up their strength after all and you guys need to power those brains of yours. They are very important to our future, after all," John tried to guise his interruption as a heads-up rather than a having a specific purpose.

The gaggle of teachers gave him an appreciative nod and retreated towards the transporters. John stopped Dave and Julia before they could follow. Once the others were out of hearing, John offered a weak smile, "Julia, would you be kind enough to get Dave's dinner and bring it back to your rooms, so he doesn't miss his chance to eat? There's something that I need to show him, its important and can't wait."

Julia gave John an easy nod before leaving. John waited for her to use the transporter, most likely heading for one of the mess halls before gesturing for Dave to follow him. Dave gave John a curious look but in this John wasn't going to be able to speak about it. Instead, he pressed the location closest to Janus's lab. The walk to the lab was silent and John could almost feel his brother's concern.

When John paused to turn the vibrational emitter on, Dave finally broke, "John, what's going on."

"You'll see in a moment. Just… please… this wasn't something I expected to be dumped in my lap right this moment," John took his brother's wrist and brought him through the wall into the lab and then walked over to the point in the wall with the Starfleet symbol. "Okay. There's no easy way to say this. You know Mom was an Ancient, that she was one of the last residents of Atlantis before they abandoned it."

"Yeah, what's that got to do with this?" Dave asked, concerned at John's expression.

John swallowed hard before speaking again, "Dave… When someone, human, ancient, whoever, reaches a state nearing ascension, which we know Mom did ascend, they tend to develop… ablilities. It can be healing through will, telekinesis, clairvoyance. There's a whole gambit. The least common is… well Mom's was to see the future, precognition. Apparently, it was quite strong. She… she knew Earth was going to be destroyed. She left a message for us, you, me, Rikki. We just found it." John pressed on the emblem.

Dave startled when the wall dissolved before him. John waved him up the pedestal and took Dave's wrist, placing his hand on the pedestal. The hologram of their mother appeared again. It wore the same gentle smile that Ata, Sorcha Sheppard, had worn in John's childhood, "David. My sweet baby boy. I know you must be confused. Your world has been torn down. Your perception of everything you've ever known impossibly altered.

"I am so sorry. I am sorry for never being able to tell you and John the truth about who and what I am. What you both are. It simply isn't an option. You… you will only be eight when I die in the future. So young, too young to take the burdens I must lay on my boys. Your brother and you, you are going to be my greatest accomplishments, my greatest joys. If I could, I would avoid dying. But I know that's not an option. Your brother must bear one of the greatest burdens that humanity will ever face. He and his mate, Todd, must unite the Pegasus galaxy to defeat the ones who destroyed Earth, the Naari.

"John, I know will watch this with you. John, you must not shoulder this burden alone, for all that I know you will try to. It is in your nature to defend, to protect and others will be willing to allow you to do it. David, you, I know, your father will have raised to know how to organize and run things, under the guise of running the company. Patrick, your father, knew the truth. You were never being raised to run a utilities company, David. You were being raised to help run the tattered remains of _humanity_. If John is the military strength and mind necessary to bring humanity through one of its most trying times it will ever fact, than you are the compassionate heart that is necessary to keep humanity, the Jaffa, Wraith, Tollan, and To'kra on the path necessary so they don't lose sight of their progress in the endeavor to survive.

"I know you will have wondered if I favored John. His mind has always been… so… similar to mine, you think. Yes, your brother has the intellect of an Alteran, but he has the heart and spirit of a human that lead him to be far too impulsive by Alteran standards. You, my boy, are far more like me than your brother is, you have the Alteran pragmaticism but mixed with a sense of humanity and humility that many others fail to see are ingrained in my nature. I love you both equally, even now, thousands of years before either of you are born. Never doubt that. My one regret with you is not having enough time. Not being able to watch you and John grow into the magnificent men I know you are when you will watch this. There is no way I can save myself from the cancer without putting myself at the hands of the judgement of the other ascended ones and I will not abandon either of you or your father to save myself.

"Please know this. Know that I will spend the next ten thousand years waiting and longing for the moment when I will meet your father, get to know him, to fall in love with him in person. I will wait that time until I get to hold your brother and you in my arms and love you even more surely than I do now. In case you were wondering why your father didn't tell you what he knew when you were older, there was no way to explain it to you that you would have accepted the truth without having it presented to you in clear evidence, as it is now.

"I did try to see futures of your father trying to explain to you why he had to drive John away, the necessity of losing his son, knowing he would never see John again… Something that will pain Patrick greatly, I assure you. When John chose the path that he _needed to take _for the sake of all humanity. You were never accepting of them in those visions. Please, don't blame your brother for choosing to leave. Your father… He acted with intent… Patrick was putting into place the last pieces that I can manipulate necessary for the survival of humanity.

"I know that even as you watch this, you will likely resent me, and your father, for using these tactics. I know this because you are so much like me and I _hate _that it is necessary. But if John does not join the Air Force, when the Expedition leaves for Atlantis, a few years in your past, it will _fail_. And without a strong, established home on Atlantis, there will be no where for the humans of Earth, for you, your wife, and your sons, to go when the Naari attack. So, you see, your father's actions were about the long-term, not just what he had in his heart, no matter how difficult it was for him to do.

"I know this is going to be difficult for you. I know that it isn't fair of me to place such burdens on you and especially on your brother, but so many, many lives are so thoroughly dependent on your actions going forward. Help Nancy with building a new, strong central government for Lantea. Help Lantea build a strong, healthy coalition with the other worlds of Pegasus. Construct an integrated educational program that spans through not just Lantea, but throughout the Pegasus Galaxy. Help Todd help his people in finding a new path. Keep Rikki from turning into a mad scientist, or worse, too much like Alteran scientists in my time. Help your brother, because he loves _so_ strongly, so deeply that he will strive to protect everyone and without your help, it could all slip through his fingers.

"I love you, and I love John. I love your boys too, and they will grow to be strong, and healthy. I approve of your wife, she's an excellent choice for you. I could speak for hours more and not convey everything that I want you to know, but what all of it boils down to is that I love you, David."

David stumbled back from the pedestal as the hologram disappeared and John hugged him, "Yeah, I know… well, I didn't know what her message for you exactly was, but considering her message for me, it isn't too surprising."

"She _knew_ all along. No wonder she put so much focus on you," Dave barked out a bitter laugh. "My job is to back you up, keep everyone's hopes up. Your job is to _save_ everyone. Damn it, how do we not hate her for this… this thing… she's _dropped_ on us?"

"Well, to be fair, I'm pretty sure she did mean it when she said she loved us. I never felt there was any reason to doubt that, Dave, and neither should you. As for what we need to do, honestly, I was going to do that with or without her instructions. Now I just have some serious mandate that is going to have _everyone _expecting me to do it. Plus, apparently, she left us some sort of cache of weapons or something on Athos that we need to find to make things work easier for us. Honestly, at least we have Mom's love. Jack and Nancy got a message from their father that amounted to, 'Sorry I abandoned you. It was my job to do that. I'm proud of you anyway.' Which, if you think about it, is a shitty way of 'making amends'," John pointed out as he hugged his brother.

Dave nodded slowly, though John could see the agony and conflict flitting across his expression. His brother rarely showed emotions, even less than John did, but he was clearly devastated by this information. John gently guided Dave from Janus's lab and turned off the device holding the wall hiding it open. Dave didn't put up any resistance as John led him back to his quarters where Julia awaited with his dinner. John was rather certain that his brother was in shock.

It had been one thing to have been told by a doctor and John that they were only half human. It was something else entirely to be faced with a hologram of your Alteran mother, being informed that the purpose of your existence was to ensure that humanity and all its achievements survived. That was a rough pill to swallow. He just told Julia that Dave needed to process some things and that he would explain more the next day if it was too much for his brother to tell her.

John ran a hand through his hair as he moved the short distance to his room from his brother's. On entry he froze, and his eyes narrowed. Todd wasn't there. He checked the bathroom quickly before it dawned on him that he'd told Todd to go to bed because he was exhausted. He hadn't specified this room and the two of them hadn't actually determined whether they were sharing rooms now. To John, it had been something that was obvious, or at least should have been for a human, that they would share a room, _live_ _together_. After all, they were bonded, mated, having a kid. To humans, that meant sharing a bed, a room, a life in most cases. However, John didn't know if that's what it meant to the wraith.

He tentatively felt along the bond, testing to see if he could tell if Todd was still awake. He wouldn't wake him, if he was sleeping, the conversation could wait until the morning, but he was pleased to realize that he _could _tell that Todd was awake. He was less than happy to realize that Todd was upset, though, he wasn't certain by what, as he wasn't capable of completely reading his mate's mind yet.

That settled his mind though. He walked the short distance to Todd's room and rang the chime. It was only a moment before the door opened to show Todd in his pjs. The Wraith looked surprised to see John. This close though, John could feel the exhaustion rolling off him in waves.

"John… Is there something you require?" Todd asked immediately, while stepping to the side to let John enter the room.

It hadn't changed in the few months since it had been assigned to Todd. In fact, if John didn't know better, he would have assumed the room was still empty, for the lack of signs of Todd's presence in the room. John entered the room and mentally locked it, earning a raised eyebrow from Todd. The emotions coming from him were a mixture of confusion, relief, and concern.

John nodded his head slowly, "I just realized that I didn't know anything about the… living arrangements the wraith usually maintain with their… mates. See, on Earth, when someone gets married, which is basically what we are now, they typically live together, share everything, the room they sleep in, the bed they sleep in. It's pretty common practice for humans. I guess I just kind of assumed that the wraith were the same… but you weren't in… my room, so maybe not?"

John was slammed with shock, awe, and joy from Todd, for all that his mate kept his expression blank. Todd remained silent for a moment before answering, his expression didn't show what he felt, but his voice did, "Among the wraith… the… the practice… varies between bonded pairs. It… It is, however, far less common for the sire to allow his carrier to share quarters with him unless the safety of his mate is considered at risk, such as when they have joined with a new hive. Otherwise, even in trusting mated pairs, most sires are too territorial and unwilling to share their space with another outside of times of copulation." Todd's voice evened out as he finished speaking.

"But it isn't unwelcome? I mean for you?" John asked softly. He was guessing by the joy coming off Todd, that his mate wanted this exact thing, but hadn't wanted to presume.

Todd turned away for a moment, refusing to look John in the eye before slowly nodding, "Any carrier would wish for the permission to permanently share quarters with their sire without a risk being present. It speaks of the greatest level of trust between bonded pairs. Any carrier permitted to do so is generally envied by all others."

John nodded, "Well, for humans it's considered weird if married couples don't share a room and bed, though it isn't required. Personally, though, I would like to share, if you are comfortable with that."

John was making it clear that it was Todd's decision, even though, he could judge that from the emotions coming from his mate, it was a no brainer. Todd quickly nodded, "I would be quite pleased with this."

"Great, we can grab a couple of Marines and have them move your dresser over to _our _room tomorrow. Now, come to bed, we're both exhausted and need sleep," John pointed out, mentally unlocking the door and opening it.

Todd was swift to follow and didn't hesitate to get into bed once they arrived in the room. John quickly changed out of his BDUs and into his pjs before taking the side of the bed that placed him between Todd and the door. He knew it was irrational, given the fact that Todd was physically faster and stronger, but every instinct that he hadn't been aware even existed screamed for him to place himself between his mate and even the slightest potential threat. Whatever had Todd upset or that his mate _had been _upset was forgotten as he fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Forewarning, this is the last chapter I have fully completed, so going forward, updates will be based on when the next chapter has been finished and edited.**

Chapter 12: Athos Again

Todd had no idea of what to make of John's decision to share quarters with him, but it was, to be honest, the greatest relief imaginable. It was common knowledge among those who were Carriers of the Wraith that Sires, even mated ones, seldom could tolerate sharing living space with others. While Todd had been pleased to realize at first that John was attracted to him and then stunned to learn they had formed a mating bond, he had not entertained the slightest hope of sharing his mate's bed, excepting when John desired intercourse.

To be granted a privilege that any other carrier would happily die for so easily had not been something that could have been anticipated. The feel of John wrapping his arms around Todd left the wraith with a sense of security that only came when allowed to share their mate's bed. It was an irrational sense. He was physically stronger and faster than John. However, the positioning on the bed, with John between Todd and the door, though symbolic, held more weight than Todd suspected John could imagine. Even a bonded Wraith Sire would only trust their carrier so far.

His rest was much easier than the one that came at the end of their mating cycle. Where the previous had carried a fear of retribution for the marks on John's back, this one carried a promise of safety and security. In the morning, John was required to attend further meetings with regards to the new information that had been acquired and what they hoped to find on Athos. Todd decided to prove his worth for the endeavor by going to his lab and, using the avalible materials, creating a device with the same properties as a common wraith mechanism intended for exploring the ruins of cities that had been destroyed by other wraith hives.

It took him most of the day to complete. Todd was surprised when John brought him lunch so that he did not have to interrupt his work. His mate explained that he understood that scientists were absorbed in their work. Todd was pleasantly surprised by this but didn't complain as it allowed him to complete the device in the one day that they had avalible to them before exploring the fallen Athosian city. He had informed John of what he was making and that while he would demonstrate how to use it for others in the future, it wasn't something that could be explained easily or quickly.

He had barely finished with the device when John returned to ensure he ate dinner. After the meal, John and Todd supervised as a pair of Marines entered Todd's old room and brought the dresser to the shared room. The Marines cheerfully congratulated them both on their bonding before departing. The remainder of the evening was spent relaxing, Todd adjusting to John's presence in their room. For John's part, he didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest with sharing the room.

Instead, Todd observed John writing in a notebook what appeared to be complex equations. He smirked as he read through them and realized that his mate was writing out calculations for creating something with the Asgard Core that had been used to create things people needed.

"What are you planning on creating?" Todd finally asked, breaking the quiet.

John chuckled, "Well, Rikki and I both have our favorite instruments on Atlantis already, hers is her Stradivari violin that Dad bought her a few years ago, before he died. It's worth a fortune… and is probably an important artifact now that I think of it, but she's got a few other models of violins that are good too. I've got a few guitars as well, that's my favorite instrument by the way, and yes, you will get to hear me play it and sing at some point. However, Dave loved playing the piano, and I know for a fact we don't have one on Atlantis, and Julia played the cello, which we also don't have, so I'm working up the calculations for making them."

Todd knew his expression was one of confusion, "What is a… guitar? I am not familiar with any of these instruments. What is their purpose and why do you play with them?"

John laughed again and he set aside the notebook. Todd watched as John got out of the bed and retrieved an oddly shaped wooden and metal item that was among a few on stands. He raised an eyebrow as John brought it over to the bed and settled in front of him, "I guess I could play something for you. My family, while we were technically stupidly rich… and ridiculously smart for that matter, has always loved music, each of us enjoy both listening and playing music. This is my instrument of choice, a guitar. I can play and sing at the same time and it is… was… a popular instrument on Earth. Just let me tune it and then I'll play a song for you."

Todd watched in confusion as John plucked at each metal string before adjusting nobs at the top of the guitar and checking them again and again until he was satisfied. Todd had to admit that the sounds coming from the instrument weren't exactly unpleasant. With a nod he smiled at Todd and then began plucking at the strings in a clearly deliberate pattern.

Todd was surprised when within a few moments of playing the guitar, John opened his mouth and began singing. It wasn't the first time he'd heard a human sing, but it was the first time that he'd heard _John _singing and he found immediately that he liked it.

"_Just yesterday mornin', they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you. I walked out this mornin' and I wrote down this song. I just can't remember who to send it to. _

"_I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again._

"_Won't you look down upon me, Jesus. You gotta help me make a stand. You just got to see me through another day. My body's achin' and my time is at hand. I won't make it any other way._

"_Whoa, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again._

"_Been walkin' my mind to an easy time, my back turned towards the sun. Lord knows when the cold wind blows, it'll turn your head around. Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come. Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground._

"_Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you baby, one more time again. _

"_Thought I'd see you one more time again. There's just a few things coming this time around now. Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you again."_

Todd considered the words of the song before asking his question, "Who was Suzanne that you would sing such a sorrowful song for her?"

John smiled and shook his head, "It's not my song, Todd. I didn't write it. It was written by a man named James Taylor. It's a song about some struggles he's endured. Suzanne was a friend of his who died that was a part of those struggles… I guess the song kind of felt fitting, you know. I'm sure everyone on Atlantis always figured we'd see Earth again, only it's gone, just like almost everything." He got up and returned the guitar to the stand before picking up his tablet and bringing it over. He played the song as song by the original artist.

Todd nodded acceptance of this before tilting his head, "Might I hear a song you've written yourself?" He was interested to see John's cheeks flush as the other man shook his head in the negative.

"I like singing other people's songs, but I'm not exactly songwriter material myself," John settled back on the bed and retrieved his notebook and pen to continue working on his calculations.

"Hmm… I found the song quite pleasant, if a little sorrowful. Though, I am not likely a good judge of your music, I believe I prefer your version of singing the song to this James Taylor," Todd admitted.

John smiled at him and then placed a kiss on his cheek, to Todd's confusion, "Well, I can agree that I like my voice better than James Taylor, no one beats Johnny Cash." John winked before switching the music to another singer. Todd silently humored his mate while maintaining the opinion that he preferred John's voice. It was only natural, after all.

They went to sleep far earlier that evening than usual for either of them as they had an early start to the next day.

Rikki had been dragged out of her lab by Amelia at what most people would consider to be a reasonable hour but was annoyingly early to the thirteen-year-old. However, her only female friend had insisted as they were going to be going off world for the first time since arriving in Pegasus. They were a tight knit group, Rikki, Tom, Amelia, Sebastian, and Jeffery, but each of them had a unique relationship with Rikki.

In Amelia's case, they were the only two girls in the group and thus had formed a sort of sisterly bond, Amelia being the older sister. Jeffery was everyone in the group of friends' grounding person. He was the oldest in the group at twenty-five, and as a result the most mature. Seb was like Rikki's gay big brother with all the overprotective behavior that came with it. Tom was special though. Tom had gotten into the same private high school as Rikki, while she was skipping grades at an insane rate, on a scholarship from a foundation that her grandfather had started.

The then eleven-year-old entering the same high school as Rikki who had bounced right over elementary school and middle school at age six had become fast friends with Rikki. They had been each other's anchor in the sea of older, more mature, but far less intelligent students. Rikki had started at Stanford just a year later, having finished the four years of high school in one, as opposed to the two that it took Tom, but he had been steadfast and gotten into the Ivy League school, his education no longer being paid for by the official scholarship but rather Rikki's grandfather who wanted to encourage the friendship of the two extremely young geniuses.

Tom was also the only guy that Rikki had ever had a crush on, not that she would admit it to a soul. He was five years older than her and she knew it would be insane to expect him to be interested in her. Nor would it be reasonable to hope that he would wait the five years until she was an adult to date someone. That would be a selfish hope, so she didn't. Especially not now, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance and the need to have kids. Still, he was her best friend, the one who understood her better than anyone else. Sure, Amelia and Seb came from rich families like Rikki had and had skipped grades too. They understood the kind of pressure that put on a person, but they didn't quite get the feeling of isolation that came with being the smallest person, being so much younger than the other students that, even though they were less intelligent than you, you were constantly being asked if you needed help with something.

Still, Rikki loved Amelia. She was the big sister who was smart enough to at least understand the basics of what Rikki was saying. So, she heeded her when she dragged her from the lab with the others when they left and got food before heading back to their rooms. Rikki felt a little restless, so she did a bit of yoga, or as much as she could with her hurt collar bone, before going to bed.

She succeeded in getting to sleep quickly, which was good since the door chimed stupidly early the next morning. Rikki sent an easy mental command for the door to open as she sat up. She half-heartedly glared at Seb who presented her with breakfast on a tray, "We figured it would be easier to coax you up this way." He shrugged and set it down on her bed. He immediately handed her the mug of the dwindling supplies of coffee that Rikki immediately inhaled.

Rikki ate the food quickly before climbing out of bed and then glaring at her friend who was still watching her, "I'm getting dressed. I'm up, so you can go now."

He eyed her assessing her before nodding, collecting the tray and departing. Rikki immediately shut and locked the door before pulling out the BDU style clothing that had been supplied to her when she had first been officially hired to work as Rodney's assistant. They were for going off world on missions, not that anyone anticipated her going on any serious ones at her current age. It was supposed to be more of a principle of the thing or maybe for confirmed safe situations, like setting up equipment they were trading for food or repairs to secure locations like the Alpha site.

Still, she dressed in them and then braided her hair back. Her collar bone still hurt like a bitch from the training accident, but Rikki wasn't going to be carrying anything or doing any heavy lifting. Her job was to find the entrance to her grandmother's super-secret lab and help finish off whatever it was that was inside it. She slid her arm into the sling, knowing full well that if she attempted to go without it, her father would pitch a fit, plus it did hurt way less in the sling and she wasn't into unnecessary pain.

She made a mental note to get to work on modifying the Goa'uld healing device so that injuries like this one could be healed in a snap. Rikki left her room to find her group of friends all geared up as well. Seb, Amelia, and Jeff had all been issued BDUs when they had been basically assigned as Rikki and Tom's interns by Rodney just after their arrival. They made their way to the transporters and squeezed in before Rikki pressed the button for the jumper bay.

They piled out and joined the group of older adults armed to the teeth. Todd had a lightsaber, making Rikki frown as he shouldn't have been considered a combatant either, but she knew he technically could handle a sword and it was the same principle. She also knew that the lightsabers had been tested against Wraith stunners and were found to absorb the hit if they caught the blast. That was probably a good idea so that it could protect the baby in the event of an attack.

Rikki watched her father eye her for a moment with a less than pleased expression. She knew that if her grandmother hadn't expressly stated that Rikki needed to go, then she wouldn't be going. Rikki was surprised when Sam joined her and was holding a Goa'uld healing device.

Sam smiled at her, "I can fix your shoulder for you, if you'd like. I played host for a To'kra for a short while, so I can use one of these. Not well enough to do more complex healing, but your shoulder is easy enough."

Rikki nodded quickly and Sam immediately, held the device over her injured collar bone and closed her eyes in concentration. Within seconds, the dull throb of her injury faded, and Rikki smiled before sliding off the sling, "Thanks. I'll have to get to work on figuring out the bit that keeps normal people from using those things. I'm sure Dr. Keller and her people would be thrilled to have them."

"Oh, I'm sure they would," Rikki smiled as her Uncle Jack joined them, geared up as well as the others. "They've been running Vala ragged with all the injured these past few weeks."

Sam slipped the hand device into a pocket of her tack vest, "I get to play medic if needed." She shrugged.

"We're here! Sorry, we were delayed by Dr. Tunney. That man doesn't know how to shut up," Dr. Jackson's arrival made Rikki's eyes go wide.

She glanced at Tom who smirked, knowing exactly how Rikki had practically hero worshiped the Linguist/Archeologist. With him was his apparent significant other and teammate, Vala Mal Doran. Rikki took an assessing look at their full group. It was her father's full team, Todd, Col. Mitchell, Teal'c, Sam, Dr. Jackson, Vala, and Uncle Jack, plus her and her friends. All told, the group was sixteen people total.

Uncle Jack looked at her, Vala, and Todd before sighing, "You three stick to the middle of the group. If any threat approaches you get down and let us deal with it. That goes especially for you, Todd, Vala. Your both pregnant, don't risk those kids unnecessarily, no matter how much you think you can fight better than everyone else. Rikki, I'm assuming your band of geeks knows better than to try fighting."

"Considering none of us are armed, I doubt that will be a problem," She pointed out.

Jack nodded. Todd was still frowning, and he glanced at Vala, "I understand my necessity on this mission, but should she really be present if she is also carrying a child."

"Oh, believe me, big guy, it's safer for everyone if I go with you lot. I'm a month and a half along and the hormones right now have me wanting to rip the throats out of the bigot idiots following Major Crapass," Vala stated with a bounce as they headed to the jumpers.

"She means Major Cole," Jackson clarified.

Rikki eyed the woman curiously, "So… Whose baby are you having?"

Vala smirked while Jackson and Mitchell blushed in unison, "Well, that's a mystery that won't be solved until the baby is born. See, we're pretty sure it was conceived…"

"She's thirteen, Vala, no corrupting her," Mitchell snapped, fiddling with his tack vest.

"Right, well, let's get this show on the road. Everyone whose ever been SG-1, you're with me. Everyone else in Sheppard's Jumper. We're going to take the fast route to the city. No need to go on a long walk when we don't need to," Jack ordered. Rikki watched as they broke off into two groups. She settled into the back of her father's Puddle Jumper with her friends, while her father's team took the four seats in the front and Todd took up position just behind her father.

"So, we're all aware that Vala likely had a threesome with Col. Mitchell and Dr. Jackson, right?" Seb asked as soon as the Jumper's door shut.

"Yeah, we got that. I think it might be a bit more permanent though. Neither of the guys looked uncomfortable with each other," Amelia pointed out.

Jeff shrugged, "As long as it doesn't cause us problems, don't really care."

"Hey, you guys, we're about to gate out. Just breathe normally as we go through the gate. Don't tense up," Ronon told them as they felt the Jumper lift off.

The sensation faded almost immediately even as they looked out the front of the ship from the back and could see they were lowered through a hole in the floor and saw just the tail end of Jack's Jumper disappearing through the gate. They immediately followed him. Ronon's advise was rather pointless given how abruptly they went through the gate.

Rikki felt a bone deep sense of cold when they emerged out the other end of the gate. She noticed her friends shiver as well. Amelia, Seb, and Jeff looked a little less unsettled by it though, "Was it like that when you came through from Earth?"

Jeff shook his head, "This was less… cold… I think. I asked Dr. Zelenka about it. Apparently, the first few times going through the gate are a bit rough, especially if it's such a long distance like from Earth to Atlantis was, but each trip makes it less obvious."

"Huh, interesting," Rikki responded. She knew the basic theory behind the use of stargates. Rodney had explained it to Rikki, but the physical sensation wasn't something that was discussed. Then again, the man had gone through the gate so many times, he probably forgot what his first experience had been like.

The trip to the ancient Athosian city wasn't a long one, and they set the Jumpers down just at the edge of the city. Todd almost immediately ignored Jack's earlier instructions to stay in the middle of the group, moving to the front with a device.

"Hey, what is it with Sheppards and being able to obey simple instructions?" Jack barked at Todd.

"I am Todd, not Sheppard. Also, unless you wish to accidently trigger a wraith sensor, I will need to lead. This device can locate and deactivate them, but it's complicated to use if you've never used it before and makeshift in construction, meaning I am the only person who is capable of using it. I'm certain Dr. McKay can alert us if there are any approaching threats. I will retreat to the middle of the group if they appear," Todd responded bluntly holding up a device that looked a bit cobbled together.

"Fine, whatever. If you trip a mine though, it's not my fault," Jack grumbled. He immediately grabbed Vala who seemed to think that was permission to join Todd and moved her back to the middle of the group.

The going was slow, Todd pausing and shifting along the road to deactivate a ridiculous number of sensors as they made their way through the city. They stuck to the main road, though there was no telling if that resulted in more or less sensors being placed in the area. Todd deactivated and collected each one in a bag. Eventually, Jack was the one who gave in and asked Todd why he was collecting the sensors.

"I will be able to disassemble them and reconfigure them to create a long-range communications device. I thought it might be useful if we were attempting to set a trap for Wraith hives. It could be used to send out a false distress signal, or for me to communicate more directly with the other hives. In short, they will be useful when repurposed. Besides, if they are not removed and disassembled, they will reactivate within a day. Rather than having to stop each day to deactivate them, it is simpler to simply remove them," Todd gave Jack a look that dared him to argue with that statement.

"Very well. Carry on," Jack responded with a grand wave.

Todd merely rolled his eyes before continuing at the task. As they neared the center of the city, there was a single building that, unlike the others, stood completely intact. John raised an eyebrow at that. He glanced at Teyla, "I'm gonna take a wild guess and presume that building is our building at the center of the city."

Teyla nodded with ease, "According to legend, that is the building around which the enter city was built. It is called the Temple of the Ancestors. Even during the time of city's high of advancement, none were able to enter. It is believed that only when the Ancestors returned would the doors open."

"Well, I think that sounds an awful lot like that would be our secret lab. Not so secret, after all, I guess," John grumbled as he glanced at Rikki, who knew that he didn't want her here.

"Hey, don't look at me. Grandma was the one who claimed I was necessary to find the lab," She huffed.

Once they reached the building, John made a beeline for the sensors at the door. He waved his hand over them and was startled when they let off a statement of 'access denied'. Rikki giggled, and moved to the front of the group. John glared at her as she walked up to the sensor and the doors popped open immediately for them.

"Guess I was necessary after all," She smirked as they made their way into the building.

"Only because you're more Alteran than human, I suspect. It might have been Ata's method of keeping people who were descended from the Ancients but not mostly or fully Ancient from entering," Daniel explained.

"Is it safe to assume that the Wraith didn't place any sensors inside the building?" John asked Todd.

Todd nodded, "As I was on one of the hives that participated in the destruction of this city, I can confirm that none of us every gained entry to this building. If I recall correctly, when the bombardment began a shield surrounded the building and no amount of force brought it down. Attempts at entry on ground were also completely unsuccessful."

"Right, good. Everyone spread out, teams of three. Let's see what Mom left us," John ordered. He glanced at Rikki for a second. "Todd, McKay, you're with me. Richards, Rikki, stick with Ronon."

O'Neill began ordering the rest into groups and stating to let McKay or Sam know if they found anything. Rikki and Tom surged forward, poking their heads into the rooms. They found a few terminals, though when Rikki turned them on, they only contained information on the research into local fauna and flora. It wasn't until the fourth room that they found something interesting.

Rikki had glanced at the wall and froze, "Hey, Tom… do the decorations on this wall look like Vulcan writing to you?"

He turned and moved closer to it before chuckling, "Damn, your grandma was clever."

Ronon came over to where the two of them stood and asked, "What's Vulcan writing, that just looks like squiggles to me."

"And if you weren't an absolute Star Trek nerd who was to the extent that you studied the Vulcan language and actually learnt it, it would look like squiggles. In fact, it's buried in squiggles. Fortunately, I can read and speak Vulcan and High Vulcan fluently. This script says to go to the room two to the north of this one," Rikki smirked.

"I'll let the others know," Ronon responded and radioed everyone. They immediately headed for the room in question and were joined by the others.

McKay grumbled in annoyance as everyone began scanning the walls' decorations from more Vulcan. Once again, it was Rikki who found it, "It says look in the northwest corner of the room." She bolted to said corner and began looking along the wall before finding another Starfleet symbol at near the ceiling.

"Found it," Rikki pointed at it. "Ronon, give me a boost."

Everyone joined them in that corner of the room while Ronon literally picked Rikki up so that she could press on the symbol. John, who had leant against the wall nearby fell through it with a yelp the second she hit it, as the wall dissolved into nothingness.

Ronon put Rikki down and everyone looked at her father who scrambled to stand back up as lights within the hidden corridor came on. It led almost immediately down what looked like a long staircase. Jack chuckled, "You should be more careful Sheppard. If that space at the top hadn't been there, you'd have taken a header down those stairs."

"Pretty sure that space was there to keep him from cracking his pretty little head open," Vala was all too amused. "After all, this was clearly Ata's doing. She likely knew he would fall through the wall. I'm starting to wish I'd met her. She is seeming more and more like an entertaining person to have been around."

John considered what he knew of his mother and Vala and cringed, "That is something I'm actually glad will never happen. She liked her pranks way too much. I can only imagine what kind of crazy the two of you could have come up with together."

Vala smirked as they began making their way down the stairs. Daniel just sighed, "Your mother doesn't sound very Ancient like to me."

"The woman built a lab full of fancy toys that were left for us, or that's what I'm guessing we'll find down here. She makes you and Oma look like sticklers for the rules in terms of those who ascended," Jack pointed out with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Mom helped Oma, before she had me that is, or maybe Oma took over for her. I read the reports. Oma sounds like the kind of person who Mom would be friends with, in terms of ascension, but then so does Janus," John shrugged.

They went down the stairs for what John guessed was roughly five stories. Once they reached the bottom, they found the hall was more of a wide tunnel and it went on for some distance. McKay grumbled about making them walk unnecessarily. John estimated they walked for two clicks before they reached a door. If he had to guess based on the orientation of door, they were now underneath the lake that had separated the location of where Teyla's village had been when they first met and the city.

The group let Rikki open that door as well and they filed into a massive cavern. John's breath escaped him as he took in what filled the cavern. Everyone remained silent for a moment before Jack burst into laughter. Sitting in the chamber was what looked to be ten massive spaceships and several terminals. They were in pristine condition and Rikki and John both could understand the humor of the situation. The very first world that John had traveled to after Atlantis, the original Athosian homeworld, they had gone to in order to find an energy source to save Atlantis.

Ironically, that world held something meant to save humanity instead. Rikki, Sam, and Rodney went directly for the terminals while John went to the pedestal that was like the one in Janus's hidden lab. When he put his hand on it, a group of holographic projections appeared, dozens of different faces were present. Ata was at the front.

"John, Jack, Rikki, Todd, I'm glad that you successfully reached this place. As you can see, we built this lab underneath the lake. The waters contain minerals that obstruct Wraith Hive sensors, so they won't be able to find the ships that are to be built here in the ten thousand years between us leaving Atlantis and your arrival here. We have left ample supplies for the ships to have been built and maintained within that time as well as replacement parts for where the ships might require repairs," Ata explained first before the hologram for Romulus stepped forward.

"Jonathan. This was my idea, a means of providing you with what you needed to fight properly. We built the chamber before we departed, though I had assistance in preparing it. These ships are our gift to what remains of humanity. I personally programmed the androids that built and maintained the ships in optimal operating condition for your arrival. I am, however, well aware of your struggles with the replicators, both the ones who helped drive the Asgard into extinction and the ones our own predecessors created to fight the wraith, to little success.

"As such, the androids I created were designed specifically to be different. They are incapable of self-replication, they cannot access any of the terminals controlling their base coding, and they will disassemble on your arrival. I specifically also programmed them so that they are incapable of harming any life. This, however, means that while they were capable creating and installing the weapons systems within the ships and Puddle Jumpers, they were not capable of activating them. This is a simple process that can be completed by your scientist, however," Romulus finished and stepped back.

A woman with dark brown hair and electric blue eyes that looked suspiciously like Lorne's stepped forward next, "I am Silla. I am the designer of the ships. Dr. McKay, Col. Carter, and Dr. Sheppard, you will find the schematics on each component and aspect of the ships' construction on the terminal directly to the left of the pedestal. The primary piece of information that you should be aware of is this, the ships were designed with the idea that it would be operated by Humans, Human/Alteran hybrids, Wraith, and Jaffa. While I am not familiar with the systems which Jaffa ships operate, I have an in-depth knowledge of the components of how Wraith, Alteran, and Asgard ships, which Ata informed me are the base design for Human ships of the future, are created and operated. I have incorporated aspects of all these designs into the ten ships to be created.

"Weapons systems are comprised of Asgard beam technology and Alteran Drones. The communications systems are Alteran and Wraith. The navigational systems are based off of a combination of all three, as are the engineering systems. Sub-light and hyperdrive systems are based off Alteran systems but with Asgard-like controls. Furthermore, the ships all possess cloaking and shields. They also contain Asgard transportation beaming and a compliment of fifty Puddle Jumpers. Each ship will require four Potentia to operate at full capacity. Each ship should be capable of housing a crew of two thousand men, women, and their families," She spoke gently as she finished and bowed.

Ata remained silent as the rest of the holograms stepped forward and introduced themselves, but otherwise remained silent. Rikki suspected this was basically a credit roll for those who helped build the place. Once they all finished Ata spoke once more, "This is our gift to you. It is all we can offer you to aid in your fight with the Nari. This is the legacy we leave to our descendants so that you may one day take our place. Know that we love you and it is for you that we make the sacrifices we will make."

There was a sad note to her voice as the holograms blinked out. Jack's grin was manic even as Rodney, Rikki, and Sam converged on the terminal holding the information about the ships' construction. They immediately began discussing the advantages of incorporating various aspects into the ships' systems.

Todd felt a mixture of numbness, elation, and sorrow coming from John. So, while the other scientists immediately dug into the information, he moved closer to his mate. He got the first clear string of words from him as a result 'She did this for us. For all of us.'

'Yes, she did,' Todd responded mentally, and smirked when John's head snapped to look at him.

"Did you just…" John didn't finish his question as Todd pressed a sense of confirmation to his mate. John switched to mental, almost as if testing it. 'Right… the bond. Damn. I don't even know what to make of all this. It's insane.'

Todd merely nodded in agreement and eyed Vala who had sidled closer to him during the exchange. She poked him and smirked as John turned and allowed the others to drag him to a terminal to activate it, "So, we get to be pregnancy buddies. I'm kind of glad you know. The first time I was pregnant was absolutely no fun at all. I was basically just a vessel for the Orici. Adria was an obnoxious little bitch too. She was created by the Ori to lead their evil galaxy conquering army. This baby though, he or she is just going to be an absolutely perfect creature by the very virtue of his or her daddy… which ever one that is. Personally, I'm voting Daniel though, because he's got brains and brawn. Though, Cam's eyes are enchanting, so that might be nice too."

Todd raised an eyebrow at Vala, "I am not certain I can relate to your situation. However, if I were to consider which of John's features, I wish our child to have, I would say that I'd prefer the child have his hair, eyes, and tactical brilliance."

Vala nodded in understanding, "Sheppard does have very nice eyes and hair. He's also very smart, not that he shows it often. I can see why you wanted to marry him. Personally, I like a little variety, but if you're going to settle for just one, Sheppard is definitely a pretty fellow to look at. I bet he's a real beast in bed too. Not that I would try him. I'm happy with Daniel and Cam, and I doubt you'd be happy if I tried stepping in on your man. But I am not blind, and he is very pretty to look at."

Todd wondered if this woman was entirely sane, "I would not recommend ever attempting to seduce my mate. Wraith mate for life and are extremely territorial when it comes to our mates."

Vala let out a laugh, "Oh, I understand. I wasn't going to try it. Sheppard is a one partner kind of man anyway. Definitely isn't the type to run around on his man or even consider it, all-consuming mating or not. Besides, I really am happy with Daniel and Cam. I wouldn't be having a baby with them if I wasn't all in. We make a rather nice threesome. I got off topic though. I was going to say that since we're pregnancy buddies, we get to do all the pregnancy stuff together, like the birthing classes and knitting baby blankets and I totally call dibs on arranging your baby shower and you can set up mine."

"Vala are you torturing Todd? You do know he knows basically nothing about Earth culture, right?" Cam asked as he joined them.

"Oh! Your mum and grandmum need to make Todd some of those little ginger cookies when he has morning sickness. Trust me on this, Todd, Cam's mother makes the very best ginger cookies that will work miracles on your stomach when it starts to rebel," Vala patted his arm and Todd wondered what ginger cookies and morning sickness were.

Before he could enquire, O'Neill ordered everyone to pack up, with assurances that they would come back sooner rather than later, and with more people to help. This was mainly because they had a scheduled check in. John seemed to agree with this, and Todd realized that his mate was specifically eyeing him, Rikki, and Vala as he vocalized his agreement with O'Neill, over the others' protests. It was reassuring to Todd that John's stance on protecting his mate and young matched what a sire's stance would and should be.

The return trek drained Todd a great deal, though this was little surprise to him as in his condition, he could anticipate his body transferring energy to determining the best viable offspring and developing it. If he were still feeding on humans, Todd would anticipate an increase in the hunger to compensate. Instead, he found that his stomach growled for food.

In response, John offered him two power bars, "Sorry, I should have thought to bring more food for you. I didn't anticipate it taking us this long to reach the lab, or I guess it's a hanger bay."

Todd accepted the power bars and consumed them easily, "It is something I should have taken into consideration as well. I knew that my body would require a greater amount of energy, now that I am carrying offspring."

Rikki and Tom offered up their power bars as well. Michell's and Jackson's went to Vala with admonishing looks. Todd confirmed that they would be able to land the Jumper directly in front of the building, in the future, now that the sensors along the path had been removed. Todd settled heavily in the back of the Jumper, once they finally reached it and earned a concerned look from John. The trip back to the gate was quick, though and Todd found himself being instructed by John to go get something to eat before the debrief.

Todd couldn't help the wave of amusement at the fact that John failed to recognize that he had little issue ordering Todd about after all. Of course, all those orders were about ensuring that Todd was taking care of himself, but it was still amusing. He was slightly less amused when Dr. Keller commed him and asked to do an additional scan on him.

He had no doubt that it was John's doing and Todd was not inclined to fail to heed even the unspoken order of his mate, whether John intended it as such or not. Todd realized that it likely indicated that he had an answer to John's question of if was a cultural expectation, or an instinctual need. Todd finished eating and considered very briefly the idea of rebelling against the unnecessary scan, but every instinct screamed against the idea immediately.

Thus, he found himself being subjected to a second scan from Dr. Keller. She smiled indulgently at him after she confirmed that nothing was wrong, "Sorry, Gen. Sheppard expressed a concern because you exhibited signs of exhaustion and given the complications from the last retrovirus and the fact that you're pregnant, I didn't want to risk missing any potential signs of issues. You look fine though."

Todd nodded, "The exhaustion is typical for this stage of pregnancy for a wraith. My body is expending a great deal of resources to determine which embryos will possess the desirable traits John and I wish for while also ensuring they do not have any undesirable genetic deformities. I suspect this task is further complicated by the fact that John and I had a longer than typical mating cycle and thus, a greater number of viable options. I would typically, if circumstances were different, be expected to feed every other day and if my sire were wraith, he would not permit me to leave quarters for the next few weeks to ensure I would not be placed at undue risk."

Keller frowned at this, "Is that because you shouldn't be straining yourself _at all_, or because hives possessed a general greater risk to your safety during the early stages of pregnancy?"

"Hives are rarely a safe place, even when one isn't carrying a child. It is why we have neutral worlds for each hive alliance for pregnant carriers to go to. Our young are often kept there until they reach the age of weening. Many bonded pairs will spend the majority of their time on such worlds," Todd explained. "Of course, Atlantis will not require such precautions. If we were to be attacked, I would not be expected to fight in my current condition, I suspect, as I would on a hive."

Keller shook her head, "No, no one would expect a pregnant person to fight. Still, I'm going to recommend that you not go off world again unless absolutely necessary, until the baby is born, and that you take it easy for the next few weeks, until this period of exhaustion has passed. I'll let the kitchen know that you, like the other pregnant… individuals on Atlantis have a dietary need for some extra food. Of course, you already did, but in this case, even more so. That does mean, however, that you _don't _overwork yourself. I'm going to make sure Gen. Sheppard is aware of that order."

Todd nodded in understanding, "If that is all?"

Keller offered a weak smile, "One more thing. I'm going to remain your primary doctor, but I will be documenting all the information on your pregnancy as, as we go forward with giving more wraith the retrovirus, it's possible that we will encounter more cases, like yours, with human/wraith mating. Since we have so little information about wraith biology and how the interbreeding will impact genetics for the children, we need to document each stage of the process, from start to finish. That means, we'll be doing daily scans, even well after I deemed initially necessary for the retrovirus. I know this may get a little annoying over the next 40 weeks, but it really is important for things going forward."

"I was aware of the necessity of the invasive nature of the scans before my mating-bond formed with John. I wasn't aware that a fully developed bond was even possible before it did, but given that it can, it is likely for the best for the process to be carefully documented," Todd agreed.

"Right, well on that note, I have a slightly invasive question that we really need an answer to. How do wraith carriers typically… give birth?" Keller asked her expression slightly uncomfortable.

Todd looked at her in confusion, "I am not certain what you are asking."

"Um… okay, so when a human woman has a child, the… point of impregnation, i.e. her vagina is the point from which the baby comes out. Is the principle the same with wraith carriers? The same path that allows the carrier to get pregnant is the one that allows the baby to come out?"

Todd shook his head, "No, when the infant is deemed fully developed based on our scans, the sire will open a cavity to access our… uterus… I believe is the term you used previously and remove the child. Afterward, obviously, the carrier would heal themselves, typically they would feed after the process."

Keller nodded, "We call them C-sections. Good news is that we do have OBGYN on staff now, so I'm sure we can work out how it would work for you rather than a woman. Upside is you won't have the long healing process afterward, because of the healing thing. Well, that was all. I will make a note in your file that we will need to schedule a c-section for you when you get to term."

Todd gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning and leaving. He went to the conference room where the debriefing was already occurring and slipped in. He had little to contribute to the discussions as he hadn't examined any of the terminals, nor would he be permitted to participate in any future excursions to the old Athosian world. The only questions he got asked were about his collecting the sensors and the device he created to detect them. Todd answered them briefly with the fact that he intended to repurpose the sensors and would train others how to utilize the sensor so the old Athosian city could be cleared of the sensors.

After the debriefing was over, the majority of those who were nominally in charge looked extremely pleased with themselves, for all that they had done none of the work in obtaining or earning the ships that, in Todd's opinion, rightfully belonged to John, David, and Rebecca as they were created by Ata for them. He considered what Romulus and Ata had implied of John's former mate. That it was her job to ensure that a proper government was formed. Todd had to admit he was a bit baffled by her behavior and choices, and yet it was clear why John had once chosen _her _to bare his children. Somehow, she didn't seem to even resent Todd, if her words a few days ago had been sincere, and Todd suspected they were.


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: You can thank my writers block for the delay in this chapter and the BLM movement for helping me get past it. You might be able to guess it, but this chapter will be a bit political. However, it's also going to have a bit of fluff because… well if you can't guess by the chapter title I don't know what to say.**

Chapter 13: The Meaning in Family

Over the next three weeks, Atlantis became like a surging beehive that had just been kicked. With the advanced warning of even more impending arrivals from the Milky Way, there was the need to ensure that the entire city was fully habitable. While the entire city had finally been cleared, what with having a few months on Earth and nothing better for John's men to do, the problem was that most of them were either labs that hadn't been thoroughly examined yet, large empty rooms, and smaller bedrooms that were devoid of virtually everything necessary to make them inhabitable beyond a basic bed and dresser.

On top of this, they wanted to get at least one of Atlantis's new ships up and running sooner, rather than later. John, meanwhile, was being pulled in every different direction. He needed to settle on the best men to man the new ships. He was needed to train new pilots for the Puddle Jumpers, so they could determine who would be best for that job on the new ships. John was also needed to take people to Athos so that the new ships could be prepared.

He was needed for meetings with the PMs, President, and Woolsey to determine the best means of defending Atlantis. He was needed for meetings with his Colonels, Landry, and O'Neill to plan out how best to use the new ships and coercing the Wraith into taking the retrovirus. Todd had been dragged along to those meetings and had provided them with the blunt suggestion of _starve them_.

John backed this by pointing out that they had the Coalition who they could use to pass out shield generators to other worlds with. The Genii weren't exactly trustworthy, but they would also be gleeful in getting the shields to protect their people. The Travelers would happily accept them as payback for their help on prior occasions. Between all those, and the connections and treaties that Atlantis had already established, they could easily cover a large portion of the galaxy with impenetrable shields.

The shields could operate on single ZPMs and coupled with the proper sensors, would go up automatically whenever Wraith darts came through the gate or hives or cruisers came into orbit. Atlantis already had a long-range communications system and sensors that could cover the entire galaxy. All they had to do was set up an alert system connected to the shield generators and before long, the Wraith would be feeling the hunger to an unprecedented extent. At least the ones that survived their encounters with the newly enhanced 304s and the ships provided by Ata's group.

The Wraith were already strapped for food, having come out of hibernation too early. If they were stripped of their ability to cull or at least cull with ease, they would be forced to choose between starvation or the retrovirus. Add to that the impending threat of the Naari and they would soon be singing a different tune.

It also had the strategic additional benefit of reassuring their allies that Atlantis was back with a vengeance, so no one could argue with the plan being an oddly solid one. Woolsey had to agree too. Todd managed to finish the calculations for the Shield Generator in the past week as well. Woolsey insisted they start with the world of Latira, due to some deal they had struck the year prior that John wasn't really interested in. John knew that Woolsey had basically promised the representative from that world with first shot at any help from Atlantis, to get them off trumped up charges with the Coalition that were the Genii's doing.

John oversaw the initiation of the plan when his and Lorne's teams escorted a team of scientists and Woolsey through the gate to Latira. He stood silently, an ominous presence, as Woolsey spoke with Kelore, the Coalition's representative for this world, explaining what they had brought. Kelore looked gleeful over Atlantis finally coming through on its promise, and his council was more than happy to allow for them to attach the sensors to the gate and set up the shield generator in the center of their series of small towns.

It took a full day to accomplish the task, however, and Kelore's smug expression reminded John that the man had only voted in favor of Atlantis because of the benefit he thought it would bring his planet rather than because it was the right thing to do. John suspected that this pay off would earn him a sweet spot on his world's council, which was why he was so pleased. John shrugged it off and left with Woolsey once the set up was completed. Thankfully, they had the Asgard Core for creating the substantial numbers of generators needed for the plan to work.

John didn't bother going with Woolsey for any of the other Coalition set ups. He had too much else to do to deal with political nonsense. By the end of the fourth week after finding out about the ships his mother had left them, John was exhausted. Worse was that he wasn't certain how much of that was transference from Todd, since his mate, for all that he was told to take it easy and couldn't leave the city, was buried under work as well. With the shield generators made, and the one on the mainland established, Todd had been diverted to creating a hybrid wraith/human/Asgard communications system for the 304s so they could contact and negotiate with Wraith hives. This was far from a simple task, given that Wraith and human/Asgard technology had extremely different bases.

They needed the capability, however, given that they required at least a delaying tactic for retrieving the wraith children and any humans from the hives before destroying the ships, if they didn't agree to surrender and taking the retrovirus. John was in the middle of a training session for the Puddle Jumpers when he was hit with a wave of shock and disorientation from Todd. This shortly was followed by the bond going blank, which had never occurred before, not even while Todd slept.

He immediately turned the Jumper around, after seizing the controls from the person he was training, who was thankfully Rikki's friend, Jeff. The young man wasn't likely to begrudge him checking on his mate. John pushed the Jumper's systems to its max and got them back to the city much faster than they would have otherwise managed it if any other person had been piloting the Jumper. During the flight, he felt the bond revive and was flooded with fear and concern from Todd, along with a heavy dose of anger, resentment, and oddly enough, shame.

As soon as he landed, he commed Todd only to get no response. He attempted Rodney next and got nothing from him either. Before he could try anyone else, his com was beeping, "Sheppard here, what happened?"

"_John, Todd and Rodney were attacked while in the labs, along with another scientist who was with them. You should come down to the infirmary,"_ Teyla spoke quickly. "_I heard Todd and Rodney's coms beeping and realized you likely felt what happened through the bond."_

"Are they alright?" John asked, worry lacing his voice. Todd's pregnancy made him a mother-hen and John more than knew it. He also knew, however, that Todd was effectively doing something unprecedented. While it could be argued that the Alterans were the basis for human life and therefore a race within the human species, or rather humans were part of the Alteran species, and the Jaffa were a sub-group of humans since that was their origin, never before had humans interbred with a completely distinct species, such as the wraith, even if they did have a distant common base.

"_Dr. Keller says that she would like to keep Todd under observation for now but won't tell me anything else. Rodney and the other scientist in the lab, however, are fine. They were merely stunned. We suspect that Todd was the target of the attack,"_ Teyla responded as John got into the transporter and hit the portion of the map that would land him closest to the main infirmary.

"I'm on my way now," John growled as he stormed his way through the hall to the infirmary. As soon as he entered, he found Ronan standing guard with a pair of Marines over two beds that held a cuffed Cole and someone John didn't recognize.

Teyla sighed in relief at the sight of John, "Thank the Ancestors that you are here. Ronan halted the attack while it was in progress. Those two are the assailants. Gen. O'Neill has already been here in an attempt to get them to talk by neither of them are speaking."

John narrowed his eyes at Cole, "This was a big mistake for you, Cole. We may not have determined what to do with people who raise trouble and attack others unprovoked, but I'm pretty sure we'll be making an example of you two. And if I have my way, you two will be taking a one-way trip through a space gate." John's tone made his rage towards them clear.

He nodded his thanks to Ronan, who nodded back, his expression screamed barely contained rage as well. John could find out how Ronan came to stop the attack later. He needed to check on Todd first. Before he could ask where he was, Keller came out and sighed in relief, "Sheppard, thank goodness. Can you come help us manage Todd? He's… a bit… resistant to allowing anyone near him at present and is refusing to allow us to scan him and we really do need to do so immediately."

John nodded, his concern for Todd overriding his desire to pitch Cole and his accomplice off the top of the control tower. He followed Keller into the isolation room where Todd was held up behind an overturned hospital bed. Keller stayed in the doorway with Beckett while John entered and approached his mate, sending a wave of reassurance over the bond. He felt Todd's fear eb for a moment before spiking.

"Todd," John attempted carefully as he approached the scant defensive position his mate had created for himself. "It's just me. Keller and Beckett are staying at the door."

"Have you been informed of what has occurred?" Todd asked, his voice holding an off note to it, though his emotions passing to John told of his distress.

"All I know is that you were attacked," John responded as he finally rounded to get a full view of his mate.

Todd was situated to protect his abdomen with his legs by curling into an upright ball. His hair had been hacked off in a crude manner. There was also flecks of blood on his cheeks and arms, though the wounds they originated from had long since healed from what John could see. Todd physically winced but didn't resist John's approach.

"They stunned everyone in the room using the weapons Rebecca created. They then proceeded to cut off my hair and assaulted me. They focused on my abdomen. I am… uncertain of the state of our offspring…" Todd looked away, a wave of shame and failure washed over John from his mate, though the fear receded as John kept up the wave of reassurance.

"The only way we're going to know the answer to that is if you let Dr. Keller check, Todd," John coaxed gently while wrapping an arm around Todd as best as he was able due to Todd's positioning.

His mate remained stiff, "And if another attempt is made?" His voice was harsh as he asked.

"They have Cole and his lacky cuffed to the beds. The two of them are in rather rough shape too. It kind of looks like Ronan beat the crap out of them," John felt a slight swell of pride in Ronan, knowing just how much his friend hated Wraith. To know that he had chosen to protect Todd rather than allow his hatred win out was something that was encouraging.

Todd nodded, "That he did. By the time I recovered from being stunned, Ronan was calling for assistance while the assailants were unconscious on the ground."

John offered a weak smile in reassurance and shifted to encourage Todd to get up so that he could be examined. Todd gave off another wave of uncertainty before unfurling his legs, allowing John to see the evidence of the damage done to his abdomen for the first time. John felt his blood run cold and he knew he'd gone pale at the sight of the still damp shirt with slashes through it while the black of the fabric concealed the color of the fluid that made the shirt damp, John knew with a dreadful certainty that it was blood.

Todd was likely only alive due to his regenerative abilities. Still, John held out his hand for Todd to take and his mate allowed him to pull him to standing. Keller and Beckett showed clear relief as Todd allowed John to guide him out of the isolation room and over to the scanner. Todd winced from what John guessed was residual pain as he got into the scanner. Keller and Beckett were immediately starting the machine while Teyla came over to John, her expression one of concern.

"Could you go to our room and get Todd a change of clothing, pjs, so that we can get him cleaned up and comfortable?" John requested quickly.

Teyla agreed and departed immediately. John turned back to his mate and the two doctors who were looking extremely grim. Jennifer shook her head as she spoke to them softly enough not to be overheard before turning to John and Todd, "I'm so sorry. I can't tell for certain, but it looks like there's underlying damage that Todd's body is still attempting to heal. We can't say either way if the attack… if it caused a miscarriage yet or not. Under normal circumstances, a victim of an attack like this would be luck to survive, to be honest. We'd like to keep Todd here until we know for certain that he's completely… healed from the attack."

John grimaced while Todd looked mutinous, glaring pure hatred at the two beds where his assailants were restrained. John spoke what Todd clearly needed, "Those two need to be transferred somewhere else. If they aren't in immediate need of medical attention, I want them transferred to our holding cells. If they do need medical attention, they can be sent to another infirmary under a heavy guard. I won't have them anywhere near Todd."

Keller nodded easily, her spite for the pair on clear display, "They're battered, but nothing worse than a dislocated shoulder for both of them. Ronan's actions were justified in my professional opinion. They were dangerous and needed immediate incapacitation, however he didn't use unnecessary force."

John sighed in relief. He turned to the Marines, "Dr. Keller says they can be transferred to the holding cells. I want them escorted by a full squad, and they stay restrained. Understood?"

Both Marines nodded grimly and one immediately commed for back up. Five minutes later, they were being marched down to holding by ten hard-faced Marines. Ronan stayed but kept his distance while Todd reluctantly changed into the clothing that Teyla brought for him and his previous clothing was secured as evidence. John took the time to clean the blood off his stomach before allowing Todd to put on the clean shirt. He only then climbed into the medical bed after John ordered him to. John felt a little guilty about using the control he knew he now held over Todd to make him to do something, but in this case, he wasn't taking any risks. If there was the slightest chance that the pregnancy could be saved by Todd resting while his body healed itself, he would take it.

Todd more readily accepted John cleaning the blood off his face. It was only then that Ronan approached. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking, "I'm glad I was in the right place at the right time."

John offered him a weak smile, "Yeah, though I'm curious to know why you were in the labs at all." John admitted.

Ronan shifted again, "I was going to talk with Todd, offer a truce of sorts with him. I don't like him, and honestly, I don't think I ever will. The Wraith as a whole have hurt my people too much for me to go making friends with them, or at least the older ones like Todd, the ones who have lived by feeding off people for centuries and millennia. But… you, and Teyla, and McKay… you're the closest thing I have to family now and I'm not about to lose that over a grudge that isn't even personally directed at Todd. I know better than to expect you to choose between your life-partner and myself. You are pledged and bound to him, so I'm not stupid enough to think that our friendship will override that. Besides, he's done what no Wraith has ever done before and changed to become something… different. That… that matters." Ronan was stiff by the end of this.

John sighed in relief. In truth, he was worried he would lose Ronan's friendship over this, but apparently Ronan was mature enough to realize that it would be wrong to let his bonding to come between their own battle-hardened friendship. John gave him a nod of appreciation, "We are family, Ronan. You and Rodney are my brothers in all but blood just as Teyla is my sister in the same way. We forged our family in battle, and we've saved each other too many times to keep track of." He offered his arm out for a manly hug and Ronan turned it into a bear hug before departing.

Teyla gave John a pleased smile. Their connection as family wasn't something that they had ever needed to verbalize, which was probably why Teyla had been so unhappy about John not telling her about Rikki until just before she met them. It was an unspoken matter that Torren was given the middle name of John, something the Athosians didn't generally do. Teyla had named her son for her father and her closest brother. Ronan and Rodney were her brothers too, but John had been first, and their connection was the strongest. Though, John suspected that if she and Kannan had a daughter, the girl might end up named Meredith, or at least Tegan Meredith.

Just then, Rodney commed him, as if thinking of the man had caused the communication, "_Is it safe for Rikki to come down to the infirmary yet? She's driving me nuts, but I didn't want her to see Todd like he was. It was… not okay. I also forgot my com in the infirmary and had to borrow Zelenka's so that I could make this call."_

"Rikki can come down and check on Todd now. Just make sure she knows that she can't stay long," John sighed, knowing that his daughter was enough like him to get worked up over the idea of Todd getting hurt. Over the past few weeks, she had been working on and off with Todd by running conversion numbers in creating the hybrid communications system. John knew that his daughter was making an attempt to get to know Todd better, with that mating-bond meaning that Todd was effectively her stepfather.

Rikki took possibly less time to reach the infirmary than John did, though that could have been just because his concern made everything feel like it was taking too long at the time. She immediately rushed to Todd's side, "I'm so glad you're okay, Todd. I'm going to figure out a security protocol for the blasters so that they can't be fired in the labs unless there is an emergency situation. It might take me a few weeks, but no one will be able to pull shit like this again, I promise." Rikki babbled a little, her eyes were watery.

John was content to let her just talk about the security protocols she would put in place for the future but she placed her hand over Todd's abdomen just as she finished saying 'I promise' and her body suddenly shifted and she turned ridged, her eyes going glassy. The next thing John knew, a glowing light pulsed from Rikki's hands and into Todd before she collapsed. John just barely caught his daughter before she hit the ground.

Todd's eyes were wide with surprise and Teyla's expression was pure awe as John swung his daughter up into his arms and then onto a bed while Keller checked over Todd and Beckett checked Rikki. Beckett immediately insisted on running a scan on her, which John couldn't argue with, given his daughter had just done something very Ascended Ancient like before collapsing. Beckett ran that scan and when it was finished, sighed in relief, "Other than a slight increase in brain activity that's mildly similar to what Rodney had after his encounter with the ascension machine, which should be considered understandable if she just did what I think she did, nothing is off with her. I'd say your daughter just had her first bought of near-ascended power being put on display. Since it's natural, I believe that it is likely that there won't be any negative side-effects, so long as she learns control and doesn't overexert herself."

John relaxed a little at that as his daughter seemed to come to as Beckett finished. She blinked for a few moments in confusion. John moved over to her and helped her to sit up, "Rikki, do you know what just happened, lass?" Beckett asked as Rikki shook off her faint.

She blinked owlishly at him for a moment, "Todd was hurt… I think I _felt _the damage… and willed it away? I'm not sure. I don't know if that's even possible… I have only been doing the whole ascension meditation thing for a couple of months."

"Well, I would like to check, but we'll need the scanner, so that Todd can get another scan done," Keller pointed out. Rikki allowed herself to be helped off the scanner and was a little wobbly on her feet.

Todd easily got out of the bed he was in and into the scanner. Keller and Beckett watched the readings carefully and their eyebrows raised in almost unison. Keller finally smiled brightly, "Well, Rikki _definitely _finished up the healing, and I am thrilled to say that it looks like whatever she did stabilized everything. The remaining embryos are reading as intact though the number is looking a bit lower than it was this morning, that could mean nothing too serious though, since Todd's body is still picking and choosing which to discard, Todd's uterus is completely fine, and there's no residual damage or even scar tissue."

"Way to go, Rikki," John gave his daughter a side hug.

The 13-year-old flushed, "Is it normal to faint from healing someone?"

Beckett sighed, "Well, we don't know for certain. When Dr. McKay developed the ability to heal while he was being forced towards ascension, he didn't seem to have any overt negative effects, besides the almost dying due to being forced to ascend. That said, we have no idea what effects it will have on an immature body."

John considered that for a second, "Well, while I was stuck inside that sanctuary place, they had a little girl who could heal, she healed me after I was injured, but she didn't do it all at once. Maybe, it taxes the body when a person isn't fully developed?"

Beckett nodded, "That's a possiblity. If that is the case, however, I would strongly encourage Rikki to not use it unless absolutely necessary and even then, only in stages. I'd rather avoid her accidentally over-extending herself."

"That is probably for the best," John gave Rikki a stern look and she nodded reluctantly.

"If I am considered medically fine now, I believe I would like to return to our room. I… I fear I don't have the equilibrium at present to handle going back to work," Todd inserted at this point.

John's instincts were personally screaming at him to get Todd to a more defensible area, and John suspected that was partly the bond and partly his natural inclination to keep his loved ones safe. Still, he looked to Keller. She sighed before nodding, "Though you appear to be fully healed, I want you to take two days to rest before returning to work, Todd. I know you aren't taking enough time to rest, and you need to consider the health of the… offspring you will be having. We're dealing with uncharted territory here. I'd really rathe not take any unnecessary risks. Especially with the trauma from today."

Todd didn't put up any protest to this, merely nodding. John realized that Todd was acting almost unnaturally meek compared to his normal demeanor. He turned to Rikki, "Well, young lady, you just accidently won my bet against your uncle. I forget what we bet on, but I'm sure someone will remember. If you are feeling fine, you want to run Rodney's com back to him?"

Teyla handed over the com as Rikki nodded and glanced around for it. Rikki paused before leaving, "I'm glad I was able to help. My future little brother or sister is important, so make sure you rest, Todd."

"I assure you that I will heed Dr. Keller's instructions. Even with your timely assistance, I suspect that the assault has disrupted the method of my body in selecting the superior genetic option. I will likely require a great deal of sleep and nutrients while it accommodates for this disruption," Todd's words would have sounded almost callused if John couldn't feel the absolute turmoil raging on Todd's emotions. John suspected that Todd was attempting to put on a brave face.

John felt a bit of relief that Ronon and Teyla fell in as an escort for John and Todd back to their quarters. As soon as they arrived, John got his mate tucked into the bed. He fingered the hair for a moment and sighed, "We'll need to arrange for someone to clean up the mess those bastards made of your hair. I think I know what they intended by cutting it off. A lot of the Marines have speculated that the hair has to do with Wraith honor, or pride, kind of like the Japanese Shogun did. It was supposed to be an attack on your honor, or at least, that's my best bet. I want to go interrogate the bastards, but I probably won't be allowed to. Which would be the smart thing, in truth. If I was left alone with those two for more than thirty seconds the issue would be resolved because we'd have two corpses."

"I know that you cannot ignore this attack, John. You are responsible for the safety of the city and all who reside on this world. It was not just an attack on myself but an attack on you as well. In fact, the Wraith would see it as a direct attack on you, since I am your mate, and carrying your offspring. I will be well if you must leave," Todd's words didn't match his feelings coming across the bond. John was thankful that Todd wasn't opting to suppress them right now.

John groaned, "I really wish I could just curl up around you and snarl at anyone who gets close until our kid is born, but I know that isn't happening. I really _can't _ignore this. The sooner it's addressed, the less risk that will be presented to you and the baby in the future. I'm not going to take any risks, though. Atlantis loves me, so I'm going to seal the room shut, no one will be able to enter besides me or Rikki unless you open the door. I'm also sure that Teyla and Ronon will be willing to keep guard outside the room too, while I have to leave. If you need anything, all you'll have to do is ask them and one will get it for you. I'll even make sure that they keep a watch on your food being prepared, Okay?"

Todd nodded stiffly, "You are concerned there may be another attempt?"

"Hopefully not, but I'm taking the better safe than sorry route at the moment," John responded before pressing a kiss to Todd's forehead in a gentle good-bye. "Just ask them to get something for you when you get hungry."

He exited the room and mentally shut and sealed the door. Only he or Rikki would be able to open it from the outside as he sealed it and Rikki was the only one with the gene strength to override the seal. He turned to Teyla and Ronon who were leaning against the wall opposite the room's door.

"I need to deal with this now. It can't wait. Will you two keep guard? I sealed the room, so only Rikki will be able to get in unless Todd opens if from the inside, but I want to know if anyone else makes an attempt, or even shows up in the hallway that doesn't belong here. Also, Todd's probably going to need to eat. If one of you will get the food and see to it that it's safe to eat, I would be grateful," John knew it was asking a lot, especially of Ronon, but these two were literally the only two people he could trust besides Rodney and Rikki to not harm Todd at present.

"I will go get Todd an ample amount of food when he requests it, and I will ensure that it comes from the food that everyone else is being served. No one will be given an opportunity to taint it," Teyla agreed immediately.

Ronon nodded, "No one will get past us. Do what needs to be done. If they're taking a vote, mine's tossing the bastards through a space gate. There's no worse betrayal than turning on your own people. Even if Todd is a Wraith, he's still Lantean now and he's got more honor than those bastards."

Teyla opened her mouth, closed it and pause before speaking, "Ronon, I have been considering things and I am forced to recall that I am Wraith-kin. What separates Todd and I at this point is very little and the majority of it is superficial. I believe it would be wrong to continue to consider Todd, or any other who chooses to take the retrovirus, a true Wraith. They may look like them, but they are choosing to walk a different path, the path of Wraith-kin. It may help you with your resentment towards the Wraith who take the retro-virus going forward. Especially as we bring the young ones in who have done no harm."

Ronon froze and seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment before nodding, "You're right. Todd's not a Wraith anymore. He's Wraith-kin. I like that. It means his heritage is remembered, but also that he _chose _to take a better path."

John smiled at Ronon and gave him another hug, "I appreciate you trying to change your view of things, Ronon. I know it can't be easy to learn to undo hatred that in many ways is justified. If it helps, try to remember that Todd _fought _his nature. That there are likely others who are fighting it as well, that the kids don't want this. They are _forced _into it by the hunger, but it's not how they want to live."

Teyla smiled sadly, "That is an excellent way of viewing it. I can only hope you are correct. Unfortunately, I fear that even if you are, it will be a long time before this galaxy forgets the damage wrought by their natures."

"Yeah, well, maybe helping get rid of the Naari will help with that. At least the Wraith have an excuse for what they do. The Naari have no excuse for attacking Earth and the Milky Way without provocation," John shook his head. "I have to go and deal with this mess."

Teyla and Ronon nodded solemnly and leant against the wall on either side of the hallway, their expressions grim. John could still feel Todd's emotional upheaval as he headed to the control tower, where he suspected O'Neill, Woolsey, and everyone else would be gathered. His suspicion proved correct as he found them all in the conference room.

Immediately, Woolsey stood, "Gen. Sheppard, how is Todd? I assure you this attack will be treated with the utmost severity. There's no point in us trying to get the Wraith on our side if our own people are going to attack them out of misguided ideals."

"Todd's recovered. Rikki had her first bought of near-ascension power. It turns out she's a healer. Couldn't have popped up at a more opportune time. Keller says that Todd's fully healed, and the pregnancy is stable," John assured him as he took the empty seat next to O'Neill. "I know that I can't participate in the decision of how to handle Cole and his cohort, but I'd like to be present for the process."

"Screw that. I say we let you pick how we handle it. They attacked your husband. Tried killing him and your unborn child," O'Neill asserted.

"While I understand the sentiment, Gen. O'Neill, Gen. Sheppard is correct, it would be better for the decision be made on an unbiased basis. This will set a precedent for the implementation of punishment in the future. It would not do to allow the emotions running high to steepen the punishment decided upon," Woolsey kept his voice calm and he gave John a sympathetic look.

"Well, personally, I believe that the death penalty would be a bit extreme, even in the case of a clear and deliberate hate crime. That said, we can hardly afford to feed and detain the two for the foreseeable future much less long-term." President Wallace began as an opener.

The PM for Canada, Mr. Culver, winced at the severity of the issue, "I agree that the death penalty isn't a viable option. The idea of taking a life for any reason isn't acceptable. Perhaps a penal colony could be set up?"

The group began debating whether the effort would be worth it, where it would be reasonable to set it up, how to effect security if they set it up. What kind of resources were reasonable to give them, given their crime and if resources could even be spared. John kept receiving glances of uncertainty from the others. He suspected they all wanted to know what he would like, because they were putting their safety in John's hands, but that was exactly why he wasn't talking.

They were interrupted just after O'Neill voiced his opinion that he thought they should just toss them through to a space gate and wash their hands of the mess. O'Neill's com beeped and they paused while he answered it, "I'm sorry, what?" "Who exactly?" "And the problem is?" "Are they harming them in any way?" "Then I don't see the problem. Just don't let them into the cell or do anything that could harm the two idiots." O'Neill was smirking by that point.

As soon as he finished everyone looked at him in curiosity, so he explained, "Apparently, McKay, Zelenka, and Dr. Kusanagi are rather fond of Todd. They decided to pay our would-be-murderers a visit and list all the different and exceedingly creative ways they could kill them if we allowed it."

John let out a snort of amusement, "Not surprising. The Scientists all seemed to have adopted Todd as one of their own. Though, I don't think Todd's realized yet."

"Really? Dr. Kusanagi?" Woolsey clearly was surprised.

John shook his head, "She's like the fourth best gene user we have and definitely the best non-military Jumper pilot by a long shot. She's also quite fierce in a fight if her team leader, Captain Mills, is to be believed. She's definitely put in the time on the range and is skilled with a gun so it's not a stretch. Now that I think about it, I wonder if she has any sword training…"

"Huh, I always thought she was rather meek and quiet," Woolsey responded, confusion in his voice. "I knew McKay and Zelenka could get rather explosive when angry, but I've never seen Dr. Kusanagi do so."

"Well, you know what they say about the quiet ones. Those are the ones you need to watch out for," O'Neill drawled.

"If we could get back to the discussion at hand?" Mr. Perez, the UK PM attempted to redirect them back to discussing the punishment for Cole and his lacky.

Before they could, however, John's com beeped, "Sheppard here."

"_Sorry to interrupt, sir. We're picking up a large group of ships of various make on our long-range sensors. They just dropped out of hyper-drive at the edge of the solar system. I give them another fifteen minutes at most before they reach the planet,"_ Chuck explained quickly.

"What do the ship makes look like?" John asked, not too concerned. They _were _anticipating the arrival of the Nox and others.

"_The majority of them look to be Al'kesh and Ha'tak, roughly about thirty Al'kesh and seven Ha'tak, according to our scanners. There are a few extremely large ships, six in fact, that are larger than Atlantis though and I am not capable of identifying the make for them,"_ Chuck supplied.

"Right, well we were expecting the Jaffa and Nox. It's most likely them. Have Col. Caldwell try opening a line of communication with the Jaffa ships at least," John felt a knot in his back loosen. The arrival of the Nox and Jaffa would mean that they were in far better shape in terms of numbers. Even better, since the Nox likely had ample warning, they probably came fully stocked with food. "Let me know when Caldwell gets a response."

"_Will do, sir," _Chuck responded, and the call dropped.

John sighed, "As much as I hate to say this because I want to see the bastards who attacked my husband punished, it looks like the Jaffa and Nox have arrived and they've arrived in mass. The Nox, according the long-range sensors have brought their own city-ships and the Jaffa are traveling in Ha'tak and Al'kesh based on what Chuck can pick up from the readings. Quite a lot of them, as it so happens."

"Will we be able to fit them all?" Woolsey asked, his eyes wide with concern.

"The Nox won't be a problem. I've seen their city-ships hovering over their own world. I doubt they will be needing any space in Atlantis. They might have some people settle on the Mainland, but there's a lot of land and not a lot of people there, so that shouldn't be an issue. The Jaffa… they will probably want to mostly settle on the Mainland as well, depending on how many Ha'tak they've come in. Each one can carry over 2,000 passengers, Al'kesh can carry around 50. Believe it or not, most of them would rather live the simple life when they aren't fighting. They certainly know how to live off the land. As long as we get them set up with weapons and a generator, I doubt it will be an issue," O'Neill shrugged.

"Based on the numbers that Chuck just gave me that puts us at around 15,500 Jaffa if they are at max capacity," John shrugged as the others look at him skeptically. He didn't know a lot about the Jaffa excepting the few who were already living on Atlantis. Everyone exited the conference room and headed to the control area of the tower. Chuck nodded at them as they arrived, "Sir, we are currently receiving an unknown transmission. I think it might be the Nox."

Woolsey nodded easily, "Patch them through, make sure we have audio and video."

Chuck hit a few keys and the screen showed a distinctly Nox and very old woman, she bowed slightly as she took in the group, "I am Farah, leader of the Council of Nox Elders, we request permission to land our city ships in the waters near Atlantis."

"We've been… informed to expect your people, Farah. You are more than welcome to land. I take it you assisted the Jaffa who traveled with you with the trip. I believe their ships aren't capable of intergalactic travel," O'Neill was chipper in his response.

"That is correct. I do hope that will not be an issue. When Ata warned us to the coming threat some 50 of your years ago, she informed us that you would welcome us and them," Farah looked like she expected them to accept that as explanation enough.

"We're good friends with the Jaffa these days and quite happy to them here. We've made as many preparations as we've been able to since we were notified of your impending arrival. Do you happen to know how many came?" O'Neill asked casually.

Farah frowned, "Not nearly as many as we would have wished. A greater majority of the Jaffa's warriors chose to stand and fight the Naari, though we told them that it would not be possible to do so with their limited weapons. However, I believe that they filled the ships that came with us to their maximum capacity. The majority of those who came are non-combatants."

O'Neill nodded his understanding. "Well, you go ahead and get settled in. We'll let the Jaffa know they can land their ships wherever they like on the nearby land mass, provided there aren't already buildings there. Welcome to Lantea."

"Thank you. We will be prepared to meet and discuss how we will be able to assist with the situation we have all found ourselves in tomorrow," Farah responded before the connection cut.

"Well… that's certainly different. Though they didn't actually say they'd fight, but they can revive the dead so…" O'Neill looked pleased.

"So, good allies to have close," Wallace finished.

John hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "I don't think you'll be deciding anything further today with regards to the attack on Todd, if I'm not mistaken. I'm going to go check on my husband, make sure he's not unsettled by the arrival of friendlies that he doesn't know are friendlies."

Woolsey nodded with a sympathetic look. John immediately broke off from the group and headed towards the nearest transporter. John was never so grateful for them as he felt a spike on concern from Todd as he jogged down the hall leading to their room. He paused to give Ronon and Teyla a heads up, "The Nox and what's likely the last of the Jaffa just arrived. Their landing now so I doubt anything will be settled tonight. Did Todd eat already?"

"I brought him food a short while ago. I insisted on serving the food onto his tray myself and even ensured the utensils and tray were completely clean as well. There would have been no opportunity to poison Todd," Teyla supplied readily.

"Thanks for that, Teyla. I know I'm being a little paranoid…" John began.

Teyla interrupted, "Your husband has just been attacked. It is perfectly reasonable to ensure his wellbeing and safety are preserved."

"Right, well, I am done for today. Thanks for keeping an eye out for me," John smiled weakly at them.

"Oh, yeah. Vala and Nancy both stopped by. They wanted to know how Todd was. Vala offered to 'fix' Todd's hair whenever he's comfortable with more than just you around," Ronon added.

John nodded, "Thanks. I'll talk to them later."

"We will leave you to your rest. Let us know if you require anything," Teyla smiled softly.

John nodded and then smirked evilly, "Rodney, Zelenka, and Kusanagi are all down in the prisoner area tormenting Cole and his idiot if you want to join in the fun. Let me know who has the best idea, if you do."

Ronon's grin was vicious this time and the pair walked off. John turned to the door and opened it, sealing it again behind him. Todd was standing by the window, his meal only half eaten. He immediately turned to John, "Who do those ships belong to?"

John wrapped a comforting arm around Todd's waist, "Allies. The ones that are pastel in colors belong to the Nox… I think. The gold, grey, and black ones that look like pyramids belong to the Jaffa, the smaller ones are Al'kesh and the larger ones are Ha'tak. Those are going to come in handy in the future. Al'kesh can be used as bombers and Ha'tak are basically the spaceship version of an aircraft carrier." John explained. He'd gone over enough of how the military worked for Todd to understand the references.

"And the Nox? I know that Ata said they would come, but what do they have in terms of weaponry. Those ship look more like cities than they do anything intended for fighting," Todd questioned.

"That's because that's what they are. The Nox are a purely pacifist species. They are willing to help us to a certain extent, but they lack the capacity to fight. It's a fundamental thing for them. Kind of built into their DNA, I think. However, what they lack in offensive abilities, they make up for in healing. They can heal just about any injuries and even those who have died recently. That will be a huge game changer. Plus, I imagine they will be happy to help teach a bunch of Wraith children how to live a life that isn't founded on violence," John explained.

"So, they would help with my endeavor to save my people from themselves?" Todd asked, his expression contemplative.

"I think they'd love the idea of helping the Wraith learn to live without a fundamental tendency for killing to eat," John smiled. "They'll probably get a kick out of it."

Todd nodded slowly, his concern for the arriving ships fading under the lingering and persistent shame and sense of failure that had been present since the attack. John immediately guided Todd back to the small table where the food was, "You should finish your meal. You said yourself that you'll need the nutrients."

Todd winced as he sat at the table, the sense of shame and failure increasing. John immediately gave into his instinct to reassure him, embracing him from behind and flooding him with affection, "Hey, none of this was your fault. You didn't provoke Cole's little group of morons. You were ambushed, so you didn't get a chance to defend yourself. _You did nothing wrong._ Listen, I am crap at emotions, but none of the anger I feel right now is directed at you. It's 100% all on Cole and his little toad of a follower. All I feel towards you is concern for your wellbeing and the… Toddlets, and the desire to protect you, affection for you and the Toddlets, and the general overwhelming obsession to ensure that you stay mine, which is something I am admittedly still getting used to, that last one."

Todd's shame and sense of failure faded a bit in a wave of confusion mixed with amusement, "I am not familiar with the term 'Toddlets'."

"I just made it up. I… I know we don't know if it will be a boy or girl eventually. I know there are many that will get narrowed down so I can't say baby, because it isn't just one but it will be… which is a little weird, but I'm okay with it, because it's just a different route to the same destination but I can't go calling it… them… whatever offspring, it sounds too impersonal. So, yeah, little Todds, Toddlets," John shrugged explained awkwardly.

Todd began chuckling and the sense of shame and failure from him faded a bit more under the amusement, "You are absolutely ridiculous. Very well, the offspring shall be 'Toddlets' until we determine whether it is to be a male or female if it makes you more comfortable."

John was smirking now, feeling a small measure of success, "Oh, you know you love it."

Todd's emotions gained more confusion and he chose to eat for a moment before voicing whatever he wished to say, "I am not familiar with that term either, though I know you did not just make it up as several others have spoken it, mostly in reference to our relationship. I have also heard it being used by Wraith-Worshippers. What does 'love' mean?"

John frowned and pulled away from the embrace, taking the other chair to sit in front of Todd for this talk, "The Wraith don't have the word _love_ in their vocabulary?" His tone held a bit of surprise at that.

Todd shook his head and John gave a big sigh. This was a bit awkward, but it could have been worse, it could have been asked the first time John _told _Todd he loved him, which he was beginning to suspect he did, which would have hurt like a bitch. At least John had a frame of reference of where to start, given that Rikki had asked the same question when she was five and her parents were divorcing.

"That is… a complicated question, believe it or not. There are different types of love, but they all have a base component of strong affection… fondness… you do have those words in your vocabulary, right?" John asked. Then he shook his head and decided that he was being stupid because he could _share _the feeling with Todd through their bond. "It feels like this."

John concentrated internally on the basic affection he had for those he cared about. Todd's eyes widened a bit before he nodded his understanding. John took that as his cue to continue, "But it's more than just the basic affection. There is a built connection, a sense of… _more_ with the people you love. It's… it's a desire to keep that person safe, to have their back, but also knowing they have yours. It's knowing that person and yet always wanting to learn more about them. It's… wanting them to be near because their mere presence makes you happy… It's a lot of things. And like I said, there are different types of love.

"There's a parent's love for their child, like my love for Rikki, and the little Toddlets you're growing. There's the love that's shared between family members, like I have with Dave, Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla, because those last three _are _family, even if we aren't blood. There's the love between friends, like I have with Zelenka, Lorne, and Beckett. What Rikki has with Tom, Amelia, Jeff, and Sebastian. Friendship is a really important one, so is the family one. And…" John paused debating whether it was a good idea to actually say it because even as he described love, he realized that, yes, he _did _love Todd, was _in love_ with Todd. Honestly though, there would never be a better opening for him. He would just have to take the hit if Todd wasn't certain yet. "And there's the love that is _more_… Romantic Love, it's different than the others… It's built through getting to know each other, learning to _trust _each other, that fundamental affection, it's not just loving that person but being _in love _with them."

John paused again and he knew his voice was tense now, now that he was committing to _telling _Todd. He had never been good with conveying feelings. The bond actually helped with that, and he knew his feelings for Todd were definitely flowing over towards his mate, "It's not being able to walk away from them without it destroying you, maybe a little, maybe a lot. It's _needing_ them to _be _happy for you to be happy too. It's needing to be near them for you to be truly happy. It's knowing you would hurt yourself if you ever did something to intentionally hurt the person you love. It's a thousand things that can't be expressed in words, only felt. It's… It's… It's the feeling that I'm sharing with you right now because _I love you._" John blurted the last bit out.

Todd was silent for a moment before John was slammed with the emotional wave coming back, not in rejection, but in reciprocation, because it wasn't exactly the same as what he'd shared, there was a definite need to please weighing it down, though again John suspected that was purely a component of Wraith biology so he couldn't complain. When Todd spoke, it was uncertain, "It is this?" He asked.

John nodded and smiled almost a little goofily, his tone infused with warmth and affection, "Yeah, that's it." He couldn't resist the urge to kiss Todd, so he did. It wasn't deep or lingering, just firm, confirming that their words and emotions were tangible too.

"The Wraith do not have a word for this, but I believe that is likely because such a thing is rare to develop and often discouraged when it does. Or at least from what I've observed that is the case," Todd admitted. "It… it isn't a necessary part of the mating-bond… at least I do not believe it is based on your description of it. There are many Wraith Sires who would not hesitate to punish their carrier with physical violence and not think twice on it afterwards."

"I think… I think that might be because of what the feeding requires of the Wraith, Todd. To be willing to knowingly feed on another intelligent, sentient species, that is so similar to your own… You have to be stripped of compassion. Compassion often goes hand in hand with love. Some would say it's a type of love even. I think that's why the children of the Wraith resist it, not just because they don't want the hunger, but because they don't want to _lose _the compassion they were born with. You never let go of yours. You fought your need to feed as much as you could. That let you retain your compassion," John leaned back from Todd at this. "You should finish your dinner. I can feel your exhaustion."

"You are hungry as well," Todd pointed out.

John nodded, "I'll make myself a sandwich from what I've got here. I'm not growing Toddlets, so I don't need as much food."

Todd sighed in fond exasperation, "You really aren't going to let go of that term, are you?"

John smirked and snagged another peck on Todd's lips before going to the fridge and pulling out the components of a sandwich, "Nope. I'm telling it to Keller tomorrow too, so she can feel less awkward. It will be all over Atlantis by the end of tomorrow."

Todd's fond annoyance coming across the bond reminded John of how the conversation had started and he realized that Todd had been thoroughly distracted from the feelings of shame or failure, enough so that they had faded entirely from what John could sense. They would be back, John had no doubt of that, it would take time for Todd to get over the upset of being attacked, but at least John had a useful tool to help keep Todd from dwelling on it too long.


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: I just want to thank my readers for all the lovely reviews. They really do help keep me motivated to continue writing when I could otherwise be easily be distracted by outside forces (I.e. Covid-19, random stories of other people I get sucked into and can't stop reading until I finish, other stories that I don't have a plot fully thought out for yet, etc.) So, just thank you for the motivation. On a side note, I genuinely don't know how long this story is going to take because I'm already 14 chapters in and maybe an 8****th**** the way through my brain plot.**

Chapter 14: First Dance With the Devil

After they had eaten, Todd's exhaustion seemed to draw John into it because he found himself willingly curling up on their bed, wrapped around Todd like an octopus and falling asleep despite the early hour. John didn't sleep as deeply and was just aware enough when he dreamed of being a young wraith, forced to sit in a cell while a human was forced in with him. The nightmare held echoes of a hunger, soul deep, screaming for him to take, consume, while another instinct raged against it, screaming that he didn't want to _feed_.

John was jolted into wakefulness before the nightmare could reach whatever dreadful conclusion it could. He knew immediately that it wasn't a nightmare, but rather a memory from long ago come back to haunt Todd, shared through their telepathic link. Todd himself seemed to curl up and was muttering 'I will never' in his sleep. John considered his options for a moment before going with what seemed like the most direct approach without disturbing Todd's much needed sleep.

John mustered every sense of safety, reassurance, comfort, love, and satisfaction that he could and sent if through their bond to Todd. It was clearly much easier to sooth Todd's fears while he was unconscious because within moments, John's mate was relaxing into John's arms, his flickers of emotions settling down from horror and shame to a sense of security. John was relieved that it was so easy to sooth his mate's nightmare.

He drifted back into sleep, though it was lighter than before. Before it could deepen into a full sleep a bazaar thought flitted into his mind '_the others were easy, but we need to be more careful here'_ was almost projected towards him. It definitely wasn't his or Todd's thought and instinct screamed for him to react. His special ops training immediately kicked into high gear and he was out of the bed. The light from the hall provided him just enough of a warning of the knife in the form of a glint of light on the blade. He avoided the attacker's strike, catching the arm on the side with the knife. His training meant that he was turning the blade away from him and plunging it into his assailant's chest, straight into the heart.

John mentally turned up the lighting and found that he didn't recognize the face of the would-be attacker just as he heard a scream that sounded terrifyingly like Rikki's along with some gun shots, what sounded like various energy weapons firing, as well as bodies slamming against walls. John reacted on instinct, grabbing his gun from the drawer of his nightstand, and sprinting to where he heard the screams coming from, Rikki's room. He dodged around a body slumped across the hall from Nancy's room that was across from Rikki's.

In the room, Tom, Jeff, and Sebastian were all pinning down another still struggling attacker that John didn't recognize while Amelia was shielding Rikki from the view and threat with her body. Tom slammed the attacker's head into the ground forcefully a few times before the man went limp underneath them. The young men all looked at John who was still holding his gun, pointing it at the ground rather than at them.

The knife nearby the now unconscious man spoke of the clear intent for the attacker. John's heart eased out of his throat and he was able to bark out an order, "Stay on top of him. I'll send for someone to collect him. If he wakes up just knock him out again."

Tom nodded in agreement, his expression one of obvious shock and horror, "R-Right… R-Really, _really_ glad we decided to camp out here tonight. R-Rikki didn't want to sleep alone but didn't want to disturb you." Tom offered as an unasked-for explanation of the group's presence in Rikki's room.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to argue with the prudence of that choice right now," John sagely pointed out as he exited the room, intending on finding out where the energy weapons and gun shots came into play.

He got a better look at the body in the hall and this one he _did _recognize. It was Jerry, Nancy's ex. He looked into her room and found Nancy trembling in clear shock. At the sight of John, she immediately sprung to him and clung to him like a limpet, "I... I… He was… I…" John had no idea what she had done, but whatever it was had likely saved her life given the sight of _another_ knife near her bed.

"Shh… it's okay, you're okay. Come on, let's bring you over to Rikki's room. She's had a bit of a scare too," John coaxed and didn't really give Nancy an option as he pulled her back to their daughter's room.

Nancy took in the sight of the unconscious attacker and her terrified daughter and went from terrified herself to attempting to sooth her little girl, in full mama bear mode in less than two second. By the time that occurred, Jack was in the doorway, his own gun in hand as he took it in, "They make an attempt at you as well?"

"Yeah, I was half awake, so they didn't hurt Todd or myself," John went back to his room to see Todd awake and glaring angrily at the body on the floor, his rage at the would be murderer palpable through their bond. He gently coaxed Todd up and out of the room. He wasn't about to announce that he _heard _the guy's _thoughts_ just yet. He found Dave and Julie looking reasonably terrified in their room and a body that looked like it had been _electrocuted_ across the room from them, slumped against the wall. The twins were clinging to their parents and John gestured for his brother to bring his family as well. It was a little disconcerting to hear '_I killed him, I killed him. What the hell did I do? How the hell?' _A clear sound of Dave's voice in his head while the couple gathered their children and fled the room. John guided everyone back to Rikki's room.

Jack followed him and he glanced at the group still on top of the unconscious attacker, "Get him out of here and into the hall. Make sure he can't escape though."

Tom, Jeff, and Sebastian all nodded grimly and dragged their attacker from the room, leaving a small pool of blood where his head had been slammed against the floor, indicating just how much force Tom had used. Todd had taken in Rikki's state just as Nancy had and immediately moved to reassure and sooth her on her other side. Dave's family took the nest of pillows Rikki's friends had been sleeping in on the floor. Vala, Daniel, and Cam all appeared at that point. Vala immediately started talking, "Oh, here you all are. Bloody bastards. What the hell where they thinking? Cam killed the one that went for us. As if we're stupid enough to sleep unarmed."

"Dumb ass thought I actually slept on the bed," Ronon's voice could be heard from behind them. Very few people knew that Ronon had never readjusted to sleeping on normal beds after his time as a runner, instead using the bed as a barrier between himself and the door.

"There was one in my room too. Seriously, why come after me?" Rodney's voice sounded from out in the hall. From what John could see of Rodney, he was holding a gun, explaining how he and Keller had survived.

"I was forced to kill my assailant as well," Teyla's voice held genuine concern, though she was too far back for John to even get sight of.

It took a moment for it to click and then he was grabbing Rikki's, or one of the kids', com from her bedside stand, "Sheppard to Lorne, come in Lorne."

"_Oh, thank god, sir. Someone broke into my room and tried stabbing me. I'm a light sleeper. I was starting to worry when you didn't answer your com," _Lorne responded immediately.

"Yeah, we had our own series of attackers here too. I want squads sent to the gate room, the rooms of our VIPs, Woolsey's entire hall needs to be checked, and send two to check our prisoners," John instructed firmly.

"_You think this was a distraction to get Cole free,"_ Lorne asked, though John could hear rustling as the man worked to dress.

"No, I think this was a failed coup," John's tone was absolutely icy as he said it aloud.

Jack's expression was grim as he followed John from the room, though he hardly disagreed based on his thoughts that were all too present now. John checked the pulse of the guy the Rikki's group had subdued as he hadn't woken and didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse when there was none. The boys likely did more damage than they realized. John shook his head, "You three can get off him. He's dead. I know it was accidental, but don't feel any guilt over this. If you hadn't acted when you did, if you hadn't been there, it's likely he would have killed Rikki, understand. You did what was necessary. It isn't nice or pretty, but that man was planning on killing a 13-year-old girl. Understand? Now, Rikki needs you right now. We have a possible Coup on our hands. I need you three to go back into the room and you're going to help make sure she and her mother and Todd stay secure, understood?"

John wanted that thought firmly planted in their heads before the shock of the situation wore off and the guilt of their actions, no matter how unintentional and justified, kicked in. The three of them were grim and pale but they nodded slowly, clearly not fully comprehending but obeying him anyway. John went to his room and pulled on his BDUs and overshirt before shoving his feet into his combat boots. Jack watched him do so, "Vala should stay with those who aren't combat capable right now. If you, Cam, and Daniel will keep guard of them for now?"

"Of course," Jack agreed surprisingly willingly.

John popped his head back into Rikki's room, "Todd, you stay here with the others, I need to go check on the others who are high ranking. You'll be guarded, _stay alert._"

Todd's expression said he wanted to argue, but in this instance, John was grateful that Todd's instincts went strongly against it. It helped that John sent a mental reminder of _'Rikki and the _Toddlets' any possiblity of arguing left his mate. John gave Todd and Rikki kisses to their foreheads, mostly to reassure himself they were alright before exiting the room. In the hall he found that Ronon and Teyla both had gotten dressed as well. Rodney was holding his gun and guarding the door to his room with a grim expression and in just boxers and a t-shirt. When John looked at him, he spoke first, "I need to make sure Jennifer gets to the infirmary safely. If there are injured, she'll be needed and I'm not leaving her unguarded right now."

"Right, Teyla, Ronon, you're with me," John agreed as he took in their equally grim expressions.

The two of them were right behind John as he jogged quickly to the transporter. As soon as they were in with him, he hit the section closest to the hall where Woolsey, the President, and the PMs and royal family were all roomed. By the time they reached the hall, they were met by the various Colonels from the different countries, all grim faced as they exited the rooms of the VIPs, and one was missing. All were also rather rumpled looking, as if they had dressed in as much a rush as John.

As soon as Romanov saw John, he relaxed slightly, though his expression wasn't any pleasanter, "I contacted the others as soon as I subdued my own attacker. Bisset is dead. The Prime Ministers, President Wallace and their families, and the members of the Royal family are also all dead. Woolsey's room is empty, no sign of a struggle. I don't know where he is. He isn't responding to coms."

John felt his gut sink at the information. He tapped his com, "Lorne, Woolsey's missing. All our elected officials are dead. So is Bisset. What's our statis on the gate room and cells?"

"_I was just about to contact you. The gate technician on duty tonight is dead. I saw the last of a group of people heading through the gate just as we got to the gate room. They had a feed tapped into the security cameras from the control room. They must have realized their plans had gone south," _Lorne responded immediately. "_The squads that went down to the cells found the guards dead and Cole and company missing. I've been in contact with Zelenka, he and Kusanagi were also attacked. He is heading up here now to help me with trying to find out where they went, not that we're likely to catch them if they start gate hopping. Dr. Simpson was with them. I got a clear look at her face as she went through the gate at the tail end of the group."_

John swore and wanted to throw something, he was so pissed off, "Right. I want a full turn out now. I want to know everyone whose missing before 0800 tomorrow morning. And fucking find Woolsey if he's in the city." John barked the order harshly.

"_Understood, sir,"_ Lorne's voice had just as hard an edge as John's did by this point.

Romanov looked just as angry, "Sir, are we suspecting that Mr. Woolsey was involved or kidnapped?" He asked as John entered Woolsey's room. It was immaculate, nothing appeared to be missing and the man had even made his damned bed. There was no evidence of him having even gone to bed since his matching set of pjs were laid out on the bedcovers.

"It's impossible to say. There's a lot of different scenarios, though it looks like he wasn't planning on leaving and he didn't make it to his bed," John nodded towards the pjs. "I want his office checked first."

"Why now? I get that they probably didn't anticipate Cole getting caught in his attack of Todd, but wouldn't it have been safer for them to wait to stage a coup until our troops had relaxed a little?" Col. Bennet asked. He looked confused as well as angry.

"The Nox and Jaffa are why. They had to act before they got settled in. It had to be before agreements could be settled on and alliances reconfirmed. If they had taken out the entire command structure before escaping, they would have crippled us. Especially if people didn't know who to trust, the Nox and Jaffa aren't exactly going to see eye to eye with each other. Thankfully, they only got those least on guard, the least prepared of us," John didn't add that he was only not caught off guard because _he fucking heard the guy's thoughts_.

"Also, the highest placed," Col. Becker grumbled.

"We don't know that. We have no idea what happened to Woolsey," John reasoned, though his tone said that he wasn't placing any bets on the matter. Woolsey wasn't ideal, but with Wallace and the other elected officials, along with the British Royal family all dead, he was a damned sight better than nothing in terms of being in charge of the civilian side of Atlantis. Never mind that he was damned good a politicking and the like with other worlds' leaders. If he was gone too, there was a genuine risk of the less intelligent wanting to set John up as a king or something. It wasn't exactly the first time John had encountered that sort of mentality after all. Worst case scenario, Dave and Nancy could help with running the more political side of things until they got an actual government sorted.

"Let's hope he got lucky and fell asleep on a pier sloshed then, shall we," MacDougal commented eyeing the pjs. "Or maybe he got into discussions with the Nox and fell asleep in one of their city-ships."

"From your mouth to the Ancients' ears," Bennet responded.

Just then John's com beeped, "_Sir, I've found Woolsey. I managed to get through to him. He was with Dr. Brown. Apparently, they're dating."_

John felt only a small wave of relief at the information, "Damned good timing to get lucky on his part."

"_No kidding, sir,"_ Lorne responded, his voice holding a bit of relief as well.

"Lorne found Woolsey, he was with Dr. Brown, apparently, they're _dating_," John explained to the colonels who all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the information.

"Better than being kidnapped. Knew he vasn't part of the coup, he vas too happy for you and Todd," Romanov nodded, his expression growing slightly less grim. "First time I've heard of sex saving a man's life though."

That got a round of groans at the bad joke. John shook his head, "I meant the order about finding out who was missing. I want to know who was involved in this and who might be sympathizers in our midst still."

He received a round of 'yes, sir' from all of them before the Colonels were breaking off and making com calls to their people. John commed Jack, "Sheppard to O'Neill, our elected officials, their families, and royals are dead along with Bisset. Woolsey seemed to have lucked out and avoided it because he was with his girlfriend in her room. Any chance that we can get the Nox to heal the dead?"

"_Depends on how long they've been dead. Have their bodies started to cool yet?"_ Jack asked.

John went into a room and touched the skin of President Wallace, grimacing at the obvious multiple stabs in her chest. There were clearly multiple attackers, as neither she nor her husband had signs of any sort of warning. The same applied for the kids in the next room of their suite. John sighed as he finally responded, "Yeah, they've had time to cool, how much, I can't say for certain, but they've probably been dead for over an hour."

"_The Nox are good but it would be a miracle if they could revive someone dead that long without them being in stasis. Too much cellular degeneration in the brain to repair, I think. Unfortunately, the Jaffa tossed their Sarcophagi as well. They felt it would be too much temptation,"_ Jack's voice held clear displeasure.

John sighed again, "Well that sucks." Jack echoed the sentiment. Ronon and Teyla were waiting for him outside the room and all he could do was shake his head.

Once they entered the transporter, John hit the button for the control room. He exited to it buzzing with energy. Zelenka was fiddling with a computer and swearing in Czech. Kusanagi appeared to be assisting him, and Lorne had ordered the squads he had brought with him to stand guard over the gate.

"Sheppard, good, perhaps you can help. They put a virus in the system. It's tampered with the gate, so we cannot use it, and we also can't activate the gate shield if someone dials here and tries to enter the city," Zelenka explained.

"What can I do?" John asked, he wasn't exactly a computer genius after all, math was where his skills lay.

"I need you in control chair. If you can locate virus and isolate it from systems it has not already corrupted, that would help prevent the spread," Zelenka explained quickly.

John nodded, "Alright, I'm on it."

He nodded to Jack as the man entered the control room with a rumpled looking Woolsey as he was leaving it. Woolsey made him pause, "Laundry's room was near Katie's. I checked on him, he's dead. There were signs of a struggle."

"I've ordered our men to do a full turn out and find out who's missing and dead. Zelenka needs me in the control chair. They bastards placed a virus in our systems, and they need me to hold it at bay so it can be dealt with. Right now, we can't even use the gate or it's shield which makes us incredibly vulnerable," John explained quickly before getting into the transporter with Teyla and Ronon.

Once they were alone and heading towards the control chair, Ronon spoke up, "Next time, we should just chuck them through a space gate like I said before."

John barked out a harsh laugh at that, "Yeah, well the nitwits killed everyone advocating for not using the death penalty, so that might end up happening, though I would prefer not having a next time."

Teyla sighed in fond exasperation as they entered the control chair room, "We will stand guard while you work."

John nodded and got into the chair. He was immediately flooded with information at a mental request. The virus had already infected the desalination systems as well as the gate systems. John cordoned those two systems off and then searched out any others that might have been impacted. He found the security systems were down as well, isolated that and that was all of them. Clearly the virus hadn't had time to do much damage, but it had been in their system for longer than a couple of hours to have spread so far.

John called out Teyla, "Let Zelenka know I've got the virus cornered. It's in the security system and desalination systems too. It looks like it started in the security system."

Teyla gave an affirmative and John heard her talking over the com system while he kept an eye on the virus. John found it weirdly fascinating to watch almost from the inside as Zelenka, Kusanagi, and then a third person, most likely Rodney, worked on destroying the virus. Within an hour it was eradicated, and John directed Atlantis to repair the coding for the desalination system and gate system, a directive he found while he was watching the scientists working from the chair. He could almost sense the city's resentment towards the virus and its damage, which had made it easier to isolate it in the first place. The security system was all human though and Rodney and company would have to fix it.

As John got up from the chair, most likely two hours after getting into it, Teyla and Ronon appeared to be relaxed, not as on guard anymore. Teyla looked at him, "Lorne and your other Colonels have reported in. There appear to be seventy-six adults and fourteen teenagers missing. The death toll has thankfully not increased. It appears they most likely targeted those who would be the biggest threat to taking control and the most powerful gene users. Carson reported they also made an attempt on his life, however, much like ourselves, there is little that can catch him off guard these days."

John nodded in agreement to that. Those who had come in on the first wave of the Expedition and survived that first year weren't easily taken by surprise anymore. Carson had been easily the weakest link among that group and yet he had hardened from the shrinking violet who had stammered his way through explaining the accident with a drone into a confident man who knew what he was doing when dealing with the Wraith, their genetics, and could handle flying Atlantis if necessary. All despite being a clone of the original.

That was why Simpson aiding in the attack was so rage inducing. She had _survived _that first year with them. She'd worked to help save John's life a mere week after their arrival. She'd been damned near invaluable to Atlantis over the years, never hesitating or shirking her duties. It made absolutely no sense that she would be involved with Cole's group.

John shook off the distraction and checked along his bond with Todd, finding him mercifully asleep. He was also in close proximity to Rikki though and John's mind somehow jumped over to scan her mind as well and Nancy's and Dave's as well before he could pull back, his eyes wide. The telepathy with Todd was something he had adjusted to and even liked as it was damned useful in their relationship and keeping Todd safe, though John suspected that part was the bond talking. This was different though. John _shouldn't _be able _read _people's minds.

Dave and Rikki had been sleeping lightly, resting, but not enough to miss something if it occurred. Todd had been sleeping deeply, but John suspected that was only because his mate was still exhausted and recovering for the attack less than 24-hours before. Nancy had been awake, her mind buzzing with purpose to establish some sort of legal system.

John pushed the concern aside and tapped his com, or rather Rikki's or one of the kids because he'd never actually retrieved his, "Sheppard to McKay, Rodney, I found a protocol in Atlantis's primary system that backs up the essential systems, like gate, life support, and those kinds of things. I connected a link to it for you but already instructed to the city to repair the desalination system and gate system. You should only need to fix the security system. I want a record of everyone that went through the gate with Cole and Simpson if it's possible. If not, we have a catalogue of who's missing." Rodney gave an affirmative and then signed off.

John was heading back to the control room when his com crackled to life again, "_Beckett to Dr. Sheppard and Gen. O'Neill, John, O'Neill, we have a… slight concern. Doctor Biro insisted on beginning the autopsies immediately due to the unusual nature of some of the injuries of the assailants, the first body she autopsied was Dr. Jerry Winslow. He… well the majority of the bones in his body have been crushed and his skull is caved in. We're rather confused as to how it could have occurred."_

John sighed, "I will need to confirm some information first, but I have as suspicion based on other data that I'm not certain anyone else has realized yet. Give me a half hour and I'll confirm the information." At least he knew whose com he was using, Rikki's. Apparently, someone else had figured that out too and passed the word on.

Jack gave John a raised eyebrow and John groaned, "I think we either had a bought of Ancient Interference, or four of us have all somehow developed near-ascension abilities spontaneously."

"Us?" O'Neill queried.

"I might have heard my attacker's _thoughts _before he got close enough to hurt myself or Todd. I also heard my brother's rather panicked thoughts indicating that something highly unusual occurred in his room and the body of his attacker looked like the guy had been _electrocuted_. That added to Nancy's ex apparently having the physical damage of hitting a wall at terminal velocity and Rikki's earlier bought of healing and I'm seeing a rather suspicious pattern," John finally admitted. He didn't see the point in concealing the truth at this point since it was likely to get out anyway.

Woolsey's eyebrows raised, "You think an ascended Ancient interfered on your behalf?"

John shook his head, "No. I think an Ancient tweaked things so that we were pushed just close enough to ascension that we developed the extras. It _could_ be argued that my developing telepathy is a side-effect of my bond with Todd and Rikki _has _been doing the whole ascension meditation thing. However, Dave thinks meditation is stupid and Nancy has enough emotional baggage that it would likely take ten years minimum of mediation and self-reflection before she had even a shot at developing such an ability."

"So, at least in those two cases, you think there was interference?" Jack asked, his expression thoughtful. "Any reason why you _wouldn't _have developed the telepathy?"

"Besides the fact that it popped up the same day that Rikki's healing did?" John looked at him skeptically. "Look, we know that my mom was playing the odds as hard as she could to save us all. It's likely that she made sure a few of her rouge group didn't get un-ascended as a back-up plan. If they were watching closely, which they would have to be by now, it makes a hell of a lot more sense that they would do something small enough not to draw attention from the others but enough to ensure that we didn't actually all end up dead."

Jack considered that for a moment and then shrugged before snarking, "Well at least they're doing something for once."

"A rouge group that was led by mother to ensure the survival of humanity. Yeah, maybe," John snarked back. "However, you don't get hear people's thoughts at random because I zero control over this right now."

"I would point out you could use it in your relationship, but you already can read your husband's mind," Jack snorted.

"And if it weren't mutual, there would be an issue with it, namely involving trust. As for Dave and Nancy, I'm guessing Nancy used telekinesis and Dave apparently has _Force Lightning _which I didn't know was even an actual thing," John grumbled.

"Well you learn new things every day," Woolsey supplied unhelpfully. He earned a glare for that from John and Jack.

Romanov commed John just then, "_Sir, we have completed the turn out. We unfortunately found Dr. Kavanagh and Cpl. Celeste Trainer dead. Cpl. Trainer was Army and had publicly came out as gay last week according to her unit members in the same hall. She's also black which was likely another reason for her being targeted by Cole's group. It is just the seventy-six adults and fourteen teens we already reported missing. Among them were three of the original personnel from Atlantis, Major Cole, obviously, but also Dr. Jessica Simpson and Sgt. Thomas Schneider who was part of the German Army Troops originally."_

John winced as he responded, reminding himself it could have been infinitely worse, "We were aware about Dr. Simpson's defection. Lorne saw her going through the gate just before it shut down. See to it that Dr. Kavanagh and Cpl. Trainer's bodies are brought to the main infirmary. What is the apparent cause of death?"

"_From the looks of it, it's the same as the others, multiple stab wounds, sir. They've also been dead for well over an hour. I suspect they were the first taken out," _Romanov answered.

John had to control his breathing because at the moment all he wanted to do was rage, hunt down Cole and his band of nutcases and deal with them all immediately. Instead, once he had it contained, though not completely concealed from his voice, John responded, "Right, understood. I want the rooms and workspaces of everyone who is missing stripped and investigated with a fine-toothed comb. They get scanned with energy detectors, every article of material and clothing checked, any property is to be thoroughly examined. No stone unturned, Col. Romanov, understood? No one sleeps until it's at least all secured under lock and key until it can be checked out."

"_Of course, sir," _Romanov responded.

John turned to Lorne who looked grim, "I want all the information and files pertaining to Cole, Dr. Simpson, and Sgt. Schneider pulled. I want to know who were on their evac lists, who was denied entry to their evac lists because of criminal histories, their families, their families' affiliates, they should have all been thoroughly checked when they were vetted for the program. I want to know _exactly _why they were willing to turn on what is literally the last of the people on Earth. Also, I want their IDCs locked out."

Lorne nodded in understanding, "I'll have their files for you in an hour and I'm sure that Dr. McKay will have them locked out already." Lorne looked pointedly at where Rodney was working at the computer attached to the controls for the main systems.

Jack watched with John as Lorne departed. Just then Rodney tested the shield for the gate and sighed when it activated properly. A small knot in John's back loosened. That was one small issue resolved. At least if someone tried dialing in, they weren't likely to be able to overwhelm by enemy forces.

John moved over to Rodney, "Have you figured out how they got into our rooms?"

Rodney actually scoffed at that, "That's hardly a mystery. Simpson would have known how to override the door controls and I built in a system that can override them remotely, built it into the quarantine system, just in case we had another issue like that one we had when we first arrived, with the weird energy creature. Simpson has a background in Computer Sciences, and it would have been child's play for her to rig it to open the doors because she helped me write the damned code for it. She probably also created the virus, based on what I've seen. It's her coding style, that's for certain."

"So, _Simpson _was necessary to this plan?" John asked, his voice strained a bit.

"She and Kavanagh were the only ones besides Zelenka and I who knew about the door overrides and how to use them. Since Zelenka and I were targets, and Kavanagh was pretty vocally opposed to the whole group that Cole was involved in…" Rodney trailed off letting John extrapolate the answer to his question.

"Kavanagh is dead. Romanov found him. Said he was likely one of the first one killed along with an Army Corporal who recently came out as gay," John informed Rodney.

Rodney winced at that. He didn't comment though and focused back on the computer, undoubtedly trying to repair the security system. Jack and Woolsey both yawned and took seats. John took a bit of sympathy on them, "I fell asleep rather early last night. If you guys need more sleep, I can keep an eye on things."

Jack snorted at that, "I doubt anyone is getting anymore sleep tonight, or rather this morning since it's nearly 0500 now and we still have to deal with the Nox and the newly arrived Jaffa." He groaned the last bit. John winced at that information too. There was too much to do to sort this mess out and not nearly enough time to do it within.

As Todd woke, he heard conversation. It was Col. Carter and Nancy, and as he was disinclined to converse with either of them at present, he feigned still being asleep. He had already been informed of Col. Carter's newly learnt of pregnancy and while he had become accustomed to Vala's presence and interest in being 'pregnancy buddies' due to their unusual common ground, he was not interested in doing the same with Carter as she, unlike Vala, did not comprehend what it meant to have nearly every action be controlled by something entirely against her will for a prolonged period of time.

"So, what was it like being John's wife? I've only known him in a work setting, though we got along great while I was in charge of Atlantis a little over a year ago," Sam asked, mischief coloring her tone.

"Well… let's just say that I'm pretty sure he's ruined me for other men. I hope Todd realizes how damned lucky he is. John… he's an incomparable lover, gave a whole new meaning to sex god. Plus, he was all in and fully present for my pregnancy with Rikki, ensuring that if it was in his power to prevent it from causing me stress, he bent over backwards to keep the source of stress away. Sure, he wasn't overtly, and publicly affectionate, but John never left any doubt that I meant the world to him at the time. In all honesty, the failure of our marriage was 100% on me. John gave 200% of his heart to that relationship, to being an absolutely perfect husband and father, even with his love and dedication to his career. So, insecure, and stupid me, I couldn't live without the constant attention while he was deployed, and I cheated. Of course, none of the guys I slept with could compare," Nancy grumbled that last bit.

"Almost sounds like you'd get back together with John if you had the chance," Carter responded, warning in her voice.

Nancy snorted at that, ignoring the warning tone, "Of course, I would. Not that the chance will ever happen now. No, John is _extremely _all or nothing with his romantic relationships. If you're with John, he will bend over backwards, move mountains, and work like a horse to make you happy. But I was the idiot who burnt that bridge and here we are. I get front row seats to watching the one man I would give damned near anything to get back give that same love and affection to someone else, who now gets to carry his next child and all the other children after, because Wraith do the whole marriage thing for keeps. I get to watch as my _own _daughter grows closer to her stepfather than she ever was to me because they actually have something other than DNA in common. And I get to sort out all my daddy issues while the get their happily ever after."

"It cannot be emotionally healthy to dwell on all of that. Especially since Sheppard has literally the fate of _humanity, Nox, Jaffa, and Wraith _set on his shoulders," Vala chastised and Todd realized she must have been awake as well.

"No, my therapist agrees on that. I know he's right too. It's just so damned hard _not _to dwell when I know I had all that and threw it out the window in a fit of stupidity," Nancy responded, bitterness lingering in her voice.

Carter sighed before giving Nancy what sounded like a well-meant lecture, "Well, you can't get him back, not romantically. He's married to someone else, and there's _no _doubt that Todd is as all in on that relationship as John is. I'd suggest seeing if they were open to opening up the relationship to include you, like Vala, Daniel, and Cam have, but I strongly suspect that that would not be received well from either Sheppard or Todd. If anything, it would likely end up with Sheppard tossing you off a balcony into the ocean if he really is as fanatical about caring for his romantic partner as you say. If Todd didn't kill you first that is. That means your only option is to move on, and I mean _really _move on. Stop comparing your partners with Sheppard. They aren't, nor will they ever be your ex-husband. That said, they also likely have good qualities that you are overlooking because you want them to be someone they just can't be. Well, except for your ex, Jerry, he clearly was a douche who deserved what he got."

"Which was me using some weird ancient power, that I didn't even know I had, to slam him into a wall and crushing him," Nancy grumbled, horror coloring her voice now rather than bitterness. "I am really hoping that's something I'll be able to learn to control because I startle easy and I don't want to go around hurting innocent people just because they walk quietly."

"I'm sure it was just a life or death reaction, Nancy. He _was _planning on killing you, after all," Carter soothed. "Everything that I know of the near-ascension powers implies you should have decent control over it rather quickly."

"Well, that relieving. Alright, enough distractions, I need to get back to this. I don't even know _why _Rikki has legitimately the entirety of all the US legal codes in her data banks, but it will certainly do wonders for establishing a basic legal code for Atlantis," Nancy sighed. "I swear that some of this is the stupidest shit though. I mean, really, why does Arizona even have a law limiting the number of dildos one is legally permitted to own?"

"Yeah, you're definitely going to need to get rid of that one," Vala snickered.

"You can probably eighty-six any laws the pertain to specific animals that weren't pets already on Atlantis too. Oh, and the Electoral College, people aren't stupid, they know how to vote. Also, no two-party system, people running for office is stupid enough without political parties getting involved," Carter advised.

Todd didn't know what laws she was referring to, but then the Wraith didn't have a written legal system, so the idea seemed rather bazaar to Todd. They certainly had certain practices among the Wraith that were maintained, such as how one wraith queen would seize control of another's hive, or the prohibition of violating their young, though that completely ignored in a way with the forcing of adolescents into feeding.

He decided that since the risk of them discussing pregnancy had subsided given the current topic, he could cease to fain sleep. Todd shifted and eyed the three women who had been talking quietly enough that had Todd not had superior hearing, he likely wouldn't have been able to overhear their conversation. Nancy startled a bit as Todd sat upright. He didn't see the point and pretending that he was just waking.

Instead, he pointedly informed Nancy of something Wraith she needed to be aware of, "There should be some law, as you call them, that establishes that all genders have equal rights. This is something that needs to be included in the… legal system?... early in the process, since you insist on it being written. The Wraith are entirely dependent on Queens to create drones which make up the majority of our population. As such, there are a great many hives that rely heavily on the leadership of their queens. Very few are willing to go without a queen as my hives did. It needs to be clear that there will be no more creation of drones for those who take the retrovirus, and thus, all Wraith, male and female have equal rights."

Nancy stared at Todd for a moment before shifting uncomfortably, "How long have you been awake?" Her voice spoke of uncertainty.

"Long enough to recommend that you heed Col. Carter's advice about finding a mate elsewhere," Todd responded bluntly.

Nancy winced, "Right… Look, I'm really not going to try to steal John from you. I know better than that. I'm… I'm really attempting to work through _all _of my issues. I know that being stuck on John is a big one, and I know that Sam is right. I need to move on. It won't be easy for me, but I am working to move on." She defended.

Todd gave her a raised eyebrow at the defense, "That would be advisable."

Before the mostly quiet conversation could continue any further, the door opened to reveal Ronon and Teyla. Teyla smiled tightly at the group already awake, "John and Gen. O'Neill believe the immediate threat to have passed. While it is unknown if any of those who believe as Cole does remain within Atlantis, we believe most at least left with him and his… ilk. John requested that we escort you all to the mess to eat and then Dr. Keller would like to examine those who are pregnant as well as Rikki, Nancy, and David. John has postulated a theory that she would like to check on." Teyla explained.

As Teyla had spoken loud enough for all to hear, most of those in the crowded room were either now waking or nudging others awake. Todd's stomach growled causing the younger set to giggle, though Todd maintained his composure. It had been some time since his last meal, and it was hardly as if his body was entirely within his control while he was pregnant. At least this time it was a situation he was willingly dealing with. In fact, it was likely that John sensed Todd's hunger and thus why he had sent two of those he trusted most to see those he cared most for to ensure that they ate.


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 15: Negotiations

John would have gone with Teyla and Ronon an hour before to ensure his daughter and husband ate properly but he wasn't given that option due to the arrival of the Nox representatives and those of the other groups that had accompanied them to Lantea. He was currently settling in the conference room with O'Neill, Woolsey, their Colonels, the Nox representatives, Lya and Ohper, the Jaffa representatives, Teal'c and Bra'tac, the Tok'ra representatives of Per'sus and Garshaw, and Nareem as the sole representative of the few surviving Tollan. Overall, the room was crowded, with only a few chairs remaining empty despite the size of the table. As it turned out, the Tok'ra had brought one of the Ha'tak and had essentially packed their entire people within it, along with every crystal of data they possessed.

O'Neill had pointedly seated himself as far away from the Tok'ra as possible, as it was well known that while he was respected by them, O'Neill disliked any one with symbiotes in general. This was, unfortunately, a meeting that couldn't wait, especially due to the assault of Cole's group. Lya and Ohper had expressed immediate sorrow at the loss of life, though John hoped they were only referring to the murder victims and not those that had been taken down while attempting to kill others.

It was the Tok'ra who broke the silence that had descended after everyone had taken their seats and Woolsey had explained what had occurred overnight. Per'sus took an appraising look at those there and commented, "I believe we are missing someone. I was under the impression that there was another species living within Atlantis as well, Wraith, if I'm not mistaken. Why is there no representative for them present?"

"Because the only Wraith currently living in Atlantis, though the numbers will hopefully grow in time, is my husband, Todd. He is recovering from being attacked by the same group who killed our elected officials last night just yesterday. While he has accelerated regenerative abilities due to his species, he is also pregnant, and the attack caused some difficulties meaning he needs to rest for the next few days unless it is absolutely necessary. Believe me when I say that I fully intend on ensuring my husband and unborn child's wellbeing will be well represented by myself," John explained daring the Tok'ra to challenge his argument.

Per'sus decided to accept the challenge rather than back down, "I believe that my people would feel more comfortable if _all _species that will be residing here are physically present for these negotiations of establishing and organizing ourselves into the formidable force necessary for dealing with these… _Naari_. If the Wraith are intended to be a significant asset in the upcoming war, then at least the single Wraith that is present and already on our side should be here to represent his people. After all, while you may care for the wellbeing of your husband and unborn child, that does not mean that you know all things there is to know about the Wraith or know their full concerns."

"I believe the Nox too would feel more comfortable with Todd's presence in these proceedings. It would greatly ease our concerns if we were to see first-hand that he has not been mistreated and is in Atlantis willingly," Ohper interjected before John could argue back. "I am certain that those gathered would have no objections to taking breaks or rest periods so that your husband will not be overly strained by his attendance."

John clenched his jaw, knowing full well that if he argued against Todd's presence now, it would just raise unnecessary suspicions. He sighed, "He predominantly requires an increased amount of sleep and food at present. If you have no objection to him departing when he is tired or issues with him eating during part of the proceedings, than I can agree to _asking _him if he will be comfortable attending the meetings. However, if he feels it isn't in the best interest of our child or that he isn't physically up to it at present, than I certainly won't force him to attend. If that's the case, you can wait a few days until he's back to full health before he joins us and anything that require details that I don't know can be tabled until then."

Woolsey nodded in understanding to John's reluctance to disturb Todd's needed rest, "Is that sufficient enough for you to agree to?"

Per'sus gave a nod of understanding, "If that is what the Wraith's representative requires, we can agree to that, though we would _prefer _his presence if he is capable of attending."

"We merely wish to meet him, it need not be at these meetings, but we would rather it be sooner rather than later. It takes a great deal of courage to choose to change in such a profound way as Ata claimed that your husband would choose to," Ohper gave a friendly smile.

John couldn't resist smiling back. It was damned near impossible to dislike the Nox. They had no pretenses of superiority and seemed to just damned want everyone to get along and live in peace, "I'm sure he'll be well enough for a visit with you and Lya even if he isn't up to attending the meetings. I've told him what I know about the Nox and Todd has an insatiable appetite for information, so he'll definitely won't pass up a chance at meeting you guys."

This was met with bright, pleased smiles from the Nox. Woolsey commed Teyla, who should have been with Todd as she had promised to stay with him. After a short conversation, Woolsey gave a stiff smile, "Teyla says that Todd's just finished his medical scan with Dr. Keller and is willing to participate with us for at least the morning."

The Tok'ra and Nox seemed to be satisfied with this and the room fell into silence for a moment before Nareem spoke up, "I'm sorry, I know this might be a bit intrusive, but why exactly was Todd being examined by a doctor if, as I understand it, he can heal himself with ease?"

John smiled a little smugly, not minding the reminder at all, "I'm sure you've been made aware that a few months ago, Todd received a retrovirus that removed his need to sustain his life with the life force from humans. He took the retrovirus willingly, I might add. Dr. Keller wants to firstly ensure that there isn't any serious negative side-effects from the retrovirus, after all, what's the point of freeing him from the hunger if the retrovirus is going to kill Todd anyway? However, she also wants to monitor closely the development of Todd's pregnancy because you could say that Todd and I are definitely an odd couple. There have never been any known instances of the Wraith and humans interbreeding before us, so she wants to document it carefully so that they know what to expect if more cases arise once more Wraith are given the retrovirus."

"No need to be humble, John. You _are _writing history with your marriage, you should gloat a little," O'Neill's sarcasm apparently kicked in.

"Well forgive me for being happy with my marriage," John retorted.

Just then Todd and Teyla entered. Todd wore a smirk, "I'm pleased you feel such, John. It would be most unfortunate if you didn't as bonds such as ours are irreversible."

"That's implying I would want to even consider such a thing. How are the Toddlets by the way? Have you gotten enough to eat this morning?" John knew he was being a sap and a worrywart, but he didn't care about dignity when it came to his mate. He watched intently with concern as Todd retrieved one of the three remaining chairs at the table and brought it around to set it next to John's. Teyla mimicked this, but instead, took Todd's other side. Those in that area shifting down willingly enough.

"I was provided with ample sustenance. I was also assured of it's safety by a scanner that Ronon had obtained from somewhere to ensure it wasn't poisoned," Todd sent a wave of reassurance to John along with the mental '_All is well' _as he took his seat next to John. "Dr. Keller believes the remaining embryos shall be narrowed down to the most optimal _Toddlet_ by the end of next week."

"I'm sorry, did you say narrowed down the embryos? You mean there is more than one at present?" Lya asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"That is correct. When a Wraith Carrier conceives, it is during a prolonged mating cycle of typically two days, though ours was longer than average due to John's exemplary stamina. During this cycle, as many eggs as possible are fertilized. The greater the sire's, in this case John's, stamina and fertility, and our compatibility, the longer the cycle and the greater number of eggs that are fertilized. After the cycle ends, the Carrier's body will naturally eliminate any unviable embryos and reabsorbs the nutrients from them. After that, as development progresses, those that develop improperly will also be eliminated. After that, it will be far more selective, finding the one possessing the most advantageous genetic traits towards its survival, as well as the most desirable traits by myself and John. It will eliminate all others. I am currently within this third stage, though, as I said, it has taken longer than average due to the successful duration of our mating cycle," Todd practically radiated smugness, not that John could complain given that what he was being smug about was his marriage to John and the pregnancy.

"Really, Todd, you're just as humble as your husband. You two truly are a match made in heaven," O'Neill's sarcasm popped out again and John wondered if the man had relegated himself to comic relief if the situation seemed too tense.

However, in this case, the Nox had relaxed at the apparent realization that this was all perfectly natural for Wraith biology. This was confirmed when Ohper smiled at him, "If that is the case, it sounds as if your union is happily blessed and we hope for you to have a healthy and wise child."

Todd nodded his thanks. Teyla smiled at the others, "I hope you do not mind my joining this meeting as well. While Todd may be the only one on this world who was born Wraith, my people, the Athosians, have a number of those, myself included, who possess Wraith DNA that we inherited from ancestors who were experimented on by a Wraith who wished to make us more like them to ease the feeding process. We are known as Wraith-kin and now consider Todd and his unborn child among our numbers."

Per'sus leaned forward in curiosity, "Then I rather wonder at your lack of inclusion from the start, rather than the necessity of your presence now."

"I was not truly excluded as I have long known that General Sheppard and I have mirroring beliefs and that he would defend my people's rights as much as he would defend his own husband and unborn child's. That said, I was also preoccupied with ensuring Todd's safety. My people are… deeply invested in the positive outcome of his wishes to convince his people to take the retrovirus and we believe he has the best chances at persuading those who might consider it into doing so," Teyla explained firmly. "However, as he is present, it is obvious that I will be able to attend to these meetings in person."

John rolled his eyes, "I assure you, that we have no intention of excluding anyone, Supreme Councilor Per'sus. If you so wish it, we can even invite Teyla's counterpart on the mainland, Halling, to join us for the afternoon sessions if that makes you feel better."

"I believe it would, indeed. If Todd is unable to attend all the proceedings and Teyla as well, I believe we would rather require it, to ensure that all parties are being _accurately_ represented," Per'sus stated pointedly.

"I'm sure that Col. Lorne would be happy to retrieve Halling from the Mainland for the afternoon portion of our discussions," Woolsey interrupted before John could reply to the implied sentiment that they wouldn't allow the Athosians proper representation.

"I believe Halling would be amendable to this," Teyla replied diplomatically. "Though, he does have a great deal of responsibilities on the mainland ensuring the vital crops are being sown for all who would reside on Lantea. Both our peoples have a great deal of work to do to ensure that we have viable food sources as well as necessary, valuable, trading materials."

John picked up on her intention of conveying the trusted closeness of the Lanteans and Athosians, "I'm sure he could be spared for a couple of days. Your people are a very competent group and can easily direct those of ours who are working to set up the farms on the mainland. Doran is more than capable of overseeing the planting at the very least. If Supreme Councilor Per'sus insists on Halling's presence, well what can we do that he doubts the level of trust we've built over six years of working together to ensure our mutual survival." John wasn't subtle, but than he didn't plan on it.

Teyla rolled her eyes at the commentary, "You will have to forgive General Sheppard's childishness, he is far too accustomed to my handling the majority of trade negotiations and agreements when we engage with other worlds. He's never bothered with learning diplomacy." Her look at John was pointed, but it got the message across to the Tok'ra perfectly. The Athosians and Lanteans stood firmly on the same side.

"There is a great deal of trust between your people for knowing each other for so short a time as six years," Garshaw commented, giving a raised eyebrow at that.

"Yes, well, when the Lanteans have proven their friendship genuine time and again through acts of multiple rescues and protections provided for my people even when there was little benefit to themselves, given we were originally simple, nomadic farmers, it is difficult to deny that they are worthy of such trust," Teyla raised a challenging eyebrow at Garshaw. The Tok'ra conceded the point with a nod.

"Well, if that's all settled, let's get down to business, shall we," Woolsey placed a fixed smile on his face redirecting the conversation back to the main purpose of the meeting.

It took absolutely no time for all to agree that the Naari were a threat to them all, especially after the Nox revealed that while they knew little on how the Naari operated, they did know that 1.2 million years previously, they had been the ones to wipe out the Furlings. This information was new, and definitely unsettling. However, all the Nox knew was conveyed to them by a few survivors who had fled to the Nox for safety and protection. It was made clear that the Furling had comparable technology to the Nox, but were also profound believers of peaceful living, thus had no offensive technology to fight the Naari. The few surviving Furling were not genetically compatible with the Nox, so they had died out within the generation. All that remained of the Furling now was their histories and remnants of some of their technology that the Nox had preserved.

This explained why the Nox, who had previously been notoriously reluctant to work with other in anything even with even the slightest hint of violent, were suddenly so willing seek protections from humans, Wraith, Jaffa, and Tok'ra. They knew they couldn't fight the Naari anymore than the Furling could, and they could not use their typical tactics of hiding as those had obviously failed the Furling as well. This meant that they were all but defenseless to this threat and _needed _the safety that the others could provide.

Per'sus narrowed his eyes in suspicion and disgust at the Nox, "And what do you propose to do in order to aid the endeavor if you will not even fight."

"We may not be able to fight, but we can heal. So long as the person is alive or only recently deceased, within the first half hour, we can repair the damage and restore life. In addition to this, we are also willing to aid in caring and educating the young of all the species in order facilitate a stronger educational background for future generations. We may not be able to teach such things as combat, but we can teach mathematics, languages, cultural understanding and histories, and preliminary sciences, such as botany, biology, and what you would call engineering and physics. We will also be pleased to help any who need emotional support dealing with the loss of their homes," Lya offered pleasantly.

"All of which are things that we will be _happy _to accept your assistance in. I know for a _fact_ that our therapists are overrun with the kids who are struggling to cope with the losses of their entire families. Honestly, it's a miracle we haven't had any suicides," Jack responded before Per'sus could do more than scowl at the offer of the Nox. The offer would be of minimal benefit to the Tok'ra, other than the possiblity of more intelligent hosts in the future.

Ohper frowned, "If there is the risk of the innocent taking their own lives, might I inquire what is being done to assist in preventing such a calamity?"

"Well, I know that the therapists we have, have been working with everyone intensely, making sure they can handle the grieving process properly. I know they set up numerous group therapy sessions for all the kids so that they have a healthy means of vocalizing their feelings. Also, some of our people, led by Ronon, a man who joined us after the loss of his own world to the Wraith, are helping the children develop a physical outlet with teaching them self-defense and physical fitness," John explained. "However, Gen. O'Neill is correct. Our therapists are being overwhelmed with the emotional strain of helping everyone who needs it, which is honestly a massive amount of the population. Only a few of us have the good fortune that our families are mostly or completely intact."

The Nox shared a serious look and gave a nod of agreement, "We will see to it that those of our people who are mind healers will be made avalible to assist your therapists before the day is out. The emotional health of a people cannot be allowed to fester. It is no wonder that violence against others has occurred in such a manner as you experience over the last day." Ohper seemed to hold pity in his voice.

"Well, we aren't going to say no to the help," Woolsey responded smoothly.

Before they could continue any further in the discussion, John's com beeped at that the same time O'Neill's and Woolsey's did. Lorne had retrieved John's com for him and returned Rikki's to her before the meeting had started, so it was actually his com too. John answered his first, "This had better be damned important to be interrupting this meeting." Woolsey and Jack were clearly receiving the call as well.

"_It is sir. We just got a signal from the Manarian shield generator system. It's activated after detecting three wraith hives incoming and it's also recorded several darts attempting to pass through the stargate, though the gate shield took care of those," _Chuck explained quickly.

John let out a huff annoyance while Jack straight up went for full on dramatics and banged his head on the table a few times in frustration before straightening and standing, Woolsey and John already standing, "Sorry, ladies and gents, we have _another _emergency on our hands. At least this one we are well equipped to handle. Anyone who wants to tag along is willing to join if they want." Jack was apparently going for annoyed dramatics at present.

John ignored Jack as the others considered their options, John instead commed Rodney, "Gen. Sheppard to McKay, Hey Rodney, have you gotten the Phoenix's Wormhole drive installed yet?"

"_No, it's going to take another couple of days to get it in because we've been stuck on trying to figure out how to integrate it into the ship's systems without risking a burn out. We only just got it figured out. Why?"_ Rodney responded with concern.

"Manarian is under attack and Todd's system for communications with the hives hasn't been installed to any of our other ships while the Phoenix already has wraith communications built into it, so we need it," John retorted as he and Todd left the conference room.

"_Well, I can't get the system fully installed any sooner than two days from now, since it's a complicated integration process. Manarian isn't that far from here though. The Phoenix's hyperdrives are also way better than the 304s and with ZPMs to boot, it shouldn't be a long trip. Maybe a half hour at most," _Rodney was clearly annoyed.

"Well, I suppose that's better than nothing. The shields will be perfectly capable of holding for a half hour," John grumbled. He glanced at Todd and knew that he _couldn't _leave him behind. They needed Todd to try to persuade the Wraith to surrender and take the retrovirus. He sighed and tapped his com again, this time talking to the Major he'd assigned to take charge of the Phoenix. "Gen. Sheppard to Major Nakamura, I need you to beam myself and Todd up to the Phoenix. Have everyone get to their stations, we're about to take our girl on her first mission."

"_Understood, sir,_" Nakamura responded promptly.

John was never going to get over the fact that Miko's cousin had been a US Marine and she hadn't told anyone about it, though he had been on her evac list. Of course, the guy had just as strong an ATA gene as Kusanagi and was a killer pilot to boot, so John had put the guy in charge of the LSS Phoenix, the first of the ships that his mother had left them that they had gotten up and running.

It had, of course, been in pristine condition, sans the weapons' system being operational. That was the bit that Rodney had to 'finish' on the ship. The Phoenix, along with the Daedalus, Apollo, Sun Tzu, Odyssey, and Hammond had all been given the 'Atlantis' redub of LSS rather than maintaining what would have a confusing situation of being USS or CSS, since neither China nor the US existed anymore. They were all Lanteans now, regardless of the world of their birth, so it was now Lantean Spaceship, not anything else.

As soon as they were beamed onto the ship with the Asgard beaming system, John nodded to the technician before he and Todd were heading for the bridge. They had already hammered out a plan of action if it was necessary for them to scramble their people quickly weeks ago. O'Neal was likely already beamed up to the Hammond along with Carter. Kusanagi would take the Sun Tzu's weapons control chair. The Odyssey would have Lorne in the chair. It had been the Daedalus and The Apollo that had been the hardest to figure out until they had learnt that two of the cadets from the Air Force Academy happened to have been twins who had no knowledge of their parentage as orphans, but with a suspicious strength of their gene and were extremely intelligent.

While Beckett was still buried under the work of just cataloging everyone that had the gene, it was pretty much assumed that the Porter twins, Abigail and Jonah, who both looked to be of African American descent, were probably half-Alteran. John and Jack had given the cadets from the Academy an impromptu graduation and the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, so the twins were assigned to the Daedalus and Apollo on a permanent bases with strict orders to heed the orders of Caldwell and Ellis unless they were overridden by John or Jack themselves.

John tapped on his com and contacted all the other ship's commanders, "Everyone ready for this?"

He got a chorus of responses that everyone was on board and prepared for departure, "Right, all Earth based ships are to use your wormhole drives and get into position around the hives but maintain cloaking until the Phoenix arrives. Feel free to use that time to lock onto any human and immature Wraith life signatures you pick up from the hives, and beam them into holding cells, but do not engage until we arrive. The Phoenix will be along as soon as we can, but we don't have our wormhole drive installed yet."

"_Copy that. FYI, the Nox and Tok'ra representatives insisted on tagging along with me, so I have them on the Hammond. Carter wouldn't let me make the Tok'ra go to another ship," _Jack grumbled, and John chuckled.

Before he could respond, the other ships activated their wormhole drives and vanished. John took his seat at the Phoenix's Control Chair as soon as he arrived on the Bridge and Major Nakamura willingly stepped aside for the stronger gene user. As the chair tilted back, John easily sent to the ship into hyperdrive, plotting a course to Manaria. He was relieved to find that the ETA the ship gave him was only a swift ten minutes at maximum power to the hyperdrives. He announced it and then allowed the thrum of the ship's systems wash over him as they traveled to the planet, coming out of hyperdrive under cloak a short distance from the other ships that had already maneuvered into position.

John was pleased to mentally note that the sensors designed to allow them to identify their cloaked ships were operating perfectly, meaning that they knew exactly where their people were while the Wraith hives were non-the-wiser, still releasing their darts in droves towards the planet and firing their weapons at the shielded city on the surface, clearly not having anticipated the development of protections against the hives like shields, never mind an alert system to call for aid from Atlantis.

Todd immediately connected to the Hives, high-jacking their communications systems and broadcasting throughout the ships and darts alike his message, "This is the LSS Phoenix of Atlantis, cease fire of the civilians below and surrender. If you do so, you will be granted the gift of a retrovirus that will permanently free you of the hunger you are burdened with. If you fail to do so, we will be forced to destroy you."

"_Who are you to order us to stop claiming what is rightfully ours. We have no desire to stop feeding. We will destroy your world and make you suffer for ever considering attempting to fool us into believing that you have the means to fight us, for all that you created a meager defense,"_ A hive Queen's voice was heard, though John couldn't exactly look over at Todd's station at the moment. "_We will cull your world of all and use you as an example of what happens to those who attempt to defy out will."_

"Do your visual communications systems fail you that you cannot see my face? I am a Wraith, you fool. If you fail to accept mercy from us, you will suffer the consequences," Todd snarled. John actually felt a wave of rage from his mate and it almost caused him to accidently release the drones early.

"_Our visuals are none of your concern. Not that you could connect to us with them anyway, with your primitive technology. We know you are not capable of fighting back. Once your shields fail, we shall feast," _The Queen responded with distain.

"Sir, we aren't reading any more human or immature-Wraith signatures," Major Nakamura called over to Todd and John.

Todd took the information in for his respond, "Very, well, if that is your choice, so be it. However, if any of those in your darts wish to make another one, they need only remain apart from your hives as we destroy you." Todd snarled. It had been agreed that they wouldn't condemn all the wraith just because a queen was a fool.

"This is Sheppard, we have a go, you can go ahead and drop cloaking, fire on the Wraith hives and any darts that attempt to make an attack on your ships," John gave the order before focusing fulling on releasing the drones. The cloaking was dropped so as to conserve power since it was pointless once the drones were released anyway.

It was almost pitifully simplistic for the six ships to decimate the three hives and their accompanying darts. More than a few darts broke off and headed for the planet's stargate. Since the shield on the gate only functioned for in-coming wormholes, intentionally so, those that went that route, were able to make their escape. The purpose of this was to essentially give notice to all the wraith hives. Things were different now. The Wraith wouldn't have free reign, their choices were to submit to change or die. The hope was that other hives would choose differently once it became clear that they had little hope of defeating the new power in Pegasus.

John noted one dart that had gone in the opposite direction, and then went into a holding position while John focused on finishing off the darts that thought they stood a chance against the Lantean ships. Once they were cleared out or had made their escape through the gate, the dart that had separated itself from the others hailed Todd's communications system, "_Is what you claim true? If we accept this retrovirus, while we truly be free of the hunger?" _The question was laden with disbelief. Darts didn't have visuals, so John, who'd sat upright by this point didn't get to see the Wraith's face, but it was clear he wasn't exactly trusting by his voice.

"I have taken the retrovirus myself and the results are more than I could have hoped for in my ten thousand years of life," Todd responded firmly.

There was a pause before there was a response from the unknown wraith, _"Then we would request permission to dock on your ship and be given this retrovirus."_

Todd glanced at John who nodded, "Let them know that there will be security waiting for them when they land, but as long as they make no attempts to resist or fight, no harm will come to them."

Todd relayed this information and the other wraith confirmed it before the dart almost hesitantly approached their ship's Jumper bay. John relinquished the control chair to Nakamura, "Take us back to Atlantis as soon as they've docked in our bay."

"Yes, sir," Nakamura responded as he settled into the chair.

"Let the Manarian's know they can lower their shields, the threat's passed," John ordered the person in charge of the other communications terminal that would be able to connect to the shield generator systems.

Once that order was confirmed, John told the others to head home while he and Todd headed down to the Jumper Bay. They watched along with the two squads of Marines as the dart slowly entered and landed. As soon as they were in, the ship's bay doors sealed, the shield that kept the air in, without blocking ships from passing through, blinking out afterwards. Before the dart landed, however, they were surprised, when it's beam activated, releasing three more Wraith males, two of whom were distinctly pregnant. John realized that a hell of a lot more was going on than a single wraith going rouge. There was no way that these four, and there were four given the pilot was now landing the dart and climbing out quickly, could have had time to get off one of the hives before they were destroyed but after Todd had contacted the Queen. There simply wasn't enough time.

John watched in a bit of amused surprise as the piloting wraith immediately went to one of the pregnant Wraith, the one that was clearly not as far along, and immediately attempted to sooth him while the other non-pregnant wraith snarled at him. The two were holding a mental conversation that suddenly hit John in a surprising moment, when he realized he was picking up on the argument.

It was more concepts and ideas rather than words as humans would use them, but John got the gist of it which was, the one who had been in the buffer with the two pregnant males was demanding an explanation for the plan deviation and the pilot was telling him about the better opportunity that had presented itself than a breeding colony, whatever that was.

John kept the Marines from interfering until the conversation finished, the wraith in the beam still pissed off, but realizing they were stuck with the pilot's decision. He'd made it clear to the pilot that if it cost him his mate or unborn child, he'd kill the pilot though.

With that, John gestured for the Marines to stay while he and Todd walked forward, "Welcome to the LSS Phoenix. As we told your pilot, as long as none of you behave in a violent or dangerous manner towards our people, no harm will come to you. I get that you three didn't get a say in your pilot's decision, but we really do mean what we're saying, if you take the retrovirus, you'll never have to feed on another human."

John was a little startled when Todd provided what had to be the oddest introduction of him to the two wraith as it was completely telepathic and again conveyed through concepts more than words. John turned to Todd with what he knew was an incredulous expression, "Did you just introduce us as The Guide of Wraith bonded to The Fearless Leader of the Winds of Change? You being the guide person and my being the fearless leader?"

Todd's shock registered over the bond, "You understood that? I… had not anticipated that. Yes, that is what the Wraith call you. They assign names as such to those who are in frequent contact, both negative and positive with the Wraith."

"Huh, well, I guess I understand why you said that I wouldn't be able to say your actual name now," John commented with the realization that Todd hadn't just been stubborn when they had first met. John wouldn't have been able to even comprehend Todd's name, much less say it. Even his description of the concepts wasn't precisely accurate as it didn't properly convey the emotions connected to the meanings.

The Wraith that had been observing the exchange gave their own names at this point, which John got as One Who Flies Swiftly, Bonded of Sweet River of the Mind, for the pilot and his mate, and One Who is Cunning and Can Create Clever Tricks, Bonded of Child of the Queen Who is Wise Beyond His Years for the pair that were clearly almost to term if not there. John nodded his understanding before making the quip, "Those are a bit of a mouthful, you know. I doubt any else is going to understand them, so we are probably going to give you names that are respectful of your true names, but everyone can say."

"You are not a normal human, are you?" One Who Flies Swiftly responded, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

John shook his head, "I am wraith bonded to Todd, here, well we call him Todd, you call him The Guide of the Wraith."

The four of them shared looked of uncertainty and bemusement, expressions that John had genuinely never seen on a Wraith before. But then, this was definitely uncharted territory. Finally, Tricks, as John decided to mentally dub him for now, spoke up, "If you are as you say you are, prove it."

Todd laughed when John shrugged and pulled aside the collar of his shirt to reveal the bite mark on his shoulder and the other wraith bore expressions of genuine shock. Tricks actually straight up gasped, "How is this possible?"

"I made my choice to take the retrovirus for a reason, John is that reason. He accepted me as a bond mate, ours is fully formed. I carry our offspring with myself as we speak, though we are only a month into our bond. I suspect your reason for abandoning your hives are just as obvious as mine is, and she lays in your mate's belly. Both of your carriers are carrying female offspring, are they not?" Todd's tone was knowing, and John suddenly suspected there was something about Wraith customs that he didn't know about and wouldn't like if he did.

The Pilot remained stiffly by his mate's side, while Tricks shifted defensively in front of his mate, "Is that going to be a problem?" Tricks asked defiantly.

"Not so long as you know now that your daughters will be treated as equals to any males on Lantea. There will be no Hive Queens among those that take the retrovirus," Todd was blunt, and the four Wraith exchanged uncertain looks before the Pilot and Tricks seemed to almost smirk.

The Pilot finally nodded, "I will not see another of my offspring die to starvation or be murdered for their gender, as long as I am assured of this, I care not that my daughter will not be a hive queen. Better she live free of the hunger than she rule only to be destroyed by her own nature being twisted as she ages and feeds or starve if she refuses to feed."

Tricks nodded in agreement, "I will not see my first born suffer through the transition either."

John clapped his hand together with a smirk of his own, "Great. Honestly, I get where you're coming from, really. I don't want our baby to be stuck with the hunger either, though because Todd had already taken the retrovirus before we mated, that's not likely to happen. Now, we should be over Atlantis by now, so why don't we head over to the transporter room, and get down to Atlantis so we can get you guys set up with a consultation with Dr. Keller, she's the one in charge of all things medical. When's your baby due, by the way?" He asked that one of the Queen's son.

John turned and began leading them through the ship to the room with the Asgard Beaming while Tricks responded, "We have delayed removing our child from my mate as we deceived our queen on the gender of the child. She is already fully developed, and we cannot delay much longer without causing great risk to both my mate and child."

John raised an eyebrow at that, "I'm guessing you guys were already making an escape from the hive and we just gave you a better alternative than running for it and hiding out to have the baby?"

"That is a correct assessment of the situation. We were going to use the culling as our means of escape," Tricks answered reluctantly. "Though, I did not have a say in the matter, it is better, I suppose, to be somewhere that we are not as vulnerable to the unknown. Even a breeding colony is susceptible to a great deal of risks."

John could tell that he still bore a bit of resentment towards the Pilot for the situation just from the telepathy, but hopefully, that would die down. John was actually more concerned at present that he _could _pick up the emotions and thoughts from the Wraith at all. It was one thing for it to be with Todd since they were reciprocated and intentional with their bond. It was entirely different for John to be able to tell that the two carriers were terrified out of their wits, even as they maintained a proud façade and hadn't spoken a word. To know that the sires were more focused on the security and safety of their mates than they were with the fact that they were potentially in a high-risk situation. The whole thing was unnerving as hell.

It definitely solidified John's knowledge that he could, in fact, read people's thoughts and feelings now, however and he wasn't all too happy about that fact. He did wonder if it meant he would be able to communicate with them like he did with Todd though. That would be a skill that came in handy for stealth missions, not that he was likely to be going on many of those these days as a General now.

The technician in the room for transporting them down to Atlantis's gate room looked a little put out at the number of those he was beaming down, but didn't protest as he locked onto the locator beacons for everyone besides the four new wraith and then input the new calculations for the wraith. With that, he finally sent them down to the city, the four Wraith looked shocked causing Todd to laugh in amusement again.

"Your Queen was a true fool for not recalling that the humans are not as weak or vulnerable as they once were," Todd remarked as John led them to the transporters.

They had to go through in two groups, but John was confident by this point that none of the Wraith were going to make a break for it and attempt to terrorize anyone. After all, they had more to lose than gain at this point. Once they and the security personnel were through, John guided them to the main infirmary, which was to all appearances overrun by young wraith. It was clear that they ranged from infants to what looked like young adults, though they could have been anywhere between 16 and 200 for all John knew based on Todd's previous information.

Their security escort for the immature wraith looked more amused and put upon than they did concerned. The little ones were wriggling around and giggling in excitement at experiencing something new and exciting while the older ones were tense and strained, but they were intently focused on Keller who was explaining about the retrovirus to them, and John could almost _feel _the hope radiating off the young men.

That was also the most obvious bit, all of them were males. Adding that to the fact that they had two bonded pairs defecting to protect their unborn daughters and the only conclusion John could come up with was horrific, given that Todd had already told him two things. One was that males and females were born at a near equal rate. The Second was that females rarely lived to see maturity. John had a sinking feeling he knew why now.

Still, he had a duty to do and he would do it. The children in the infirmary stilled in unison at the sight of the adult wraith, some shrinking back in fear, mainly the older ones, though none looked happy. John sighed but concealed his concern at the reaction, "Jennifer, I have another four patients… or rather six I guess, since there are two unborn babies, for you. These gentlemen are One Who Flies Swiftly, with his bond mate, Sweet River of the Mind, and One Who is Cunning and Creates Clever Tricks, with his bond mate, Child of the Queen Who is Wise Beyond His Years. I know, bit of a mouth full for their names, but we'll work something out eventually."

"Okay. Well, may I ask which one is the one who looks like he is about to pop?" Keller asked eyeing Child of the Queen Who is Wise Beyond His Years.

"That would be the Child of the Queen," John explained. "I'll think of fitting names for them, just give me a minute. I'm thinking maybe Arthur for him?"

"Like as in King Arthur? I guess it could work. Goes with the whole Royalty theme," Keller commented before smiling at the newly dubbed Arthur. "How far along are you? I'm asking because if you're far enough along, I'd like to get the baby out _before _we use the retrovirus on you. We have only had limited testing on it so far and I don't want to take any unnecessary risks."

"I should have already extracted the child. However, it was not safe to do so as she is a female and Queen Quick Wit would have killed her and punished us for deceiving her about the child's gender," Tricks answered for Arthur. "If you are going to assign us… human names, I presume you intend to give all Wraith who take the retrovirus such names?"

"Yes, well, your names are rather long, though if you truly wish, we could accommodate them," Keller was quick to be respectful, though John could tell that she wasn't thrilled with saying or remembering such long names.

"No, humans, beyond The Fearless One do not have a capacity to properly comprehend the appropriate method of conveying our names. I only ask that if you must assign different names, please do so in a manner that honors our Wraith name," Tricks responded.

John watched as Keller nodded, "Well, maybe one of the anthropologists has a list of names with their meanings. Up until now, Gen. Sheppard has just been handing out names to any Wraith we've got. All the kids here say they don't _have names_ which is a little unsettling…"

"Wraith do not obtain names until they reach maturity and have done something to earn them," Todd was quick to explain.

"Right, well humans are a little more practical. We name babies at birth and go from there since we need something to call them by. I will say that Arthur is a fitting name that does kind of match up with being a wise son of a queen, since King Arthur was a whole legend that I'm sure you can learn about later. Gen. Sheppard likes picking out names too," Keller smirked at him.

John rolled his eye, "Yeah, maybe focus on the pregnant Wraith, Keller."

"I still need a brain scan from you and I'm sure that Arthur and his bond mate would be happy to see a demonstration of our scanner to see it's safe before I scan him to make sure the baby really is finished developing before we pull her out," Keller gave John a pointed look. "Plus, I was trying to persuade the other older ones over here to let me get a scan of them pre-retrovirus, but they aren't so certain just yet about it's safety either."

John sighed but nodded when he realized that Keller was right, the youths were hopeful but uncertain of the safety of these things. He hopped onto the scanning table and laid down with a smirk, "Do your worst." He joked.

"Oh, quit with the dramatics. I don't need you scaring a bunch of freaked out kids," Keller brushed off the humor and John lay still while the machine ran over him. It took less than a minute. "Alright, your all set, and you are way more developed than the others were. If I had to guess, unlike your brother, daughter, and Nancy, you definitely developed yours naturally or at least way earlier. Probably as a result of your bond with Todd. You probably just didn't notice it for the past month because you were only using it with Todd."

John glared at her as he slid off the scanner, "How did I develop it naturally? I don't meditate. I suck at meditation. That six months I spent in Sanctuary were enough to drive me bonkers."

"There's more than one way to meditate, though we can come back to that topic another time. Arthur, if you would please hop up? I'd like to see if your baby's ready to go. If she is, we'll schedule a C-Section for this evening. We've got an OBGYN, those are doctors who handle pregnancies, who can help out and needs to know how a Wraith carrier birth will differ from a human one," Keller tried being polite as possible.

Arthur glanced at his mate with extreme hesitation before Tricks gave a nod and assisted Arthur onto the scanner. Keller activated it again. Once more it took less than a minute, and she examined the results, focusing on the abdomen rather than the brain this time. She sighed, "Well, that is definitely one ready to be born baby. If anything, she's looking a little on the big side. I'll contact Dr. Perrel, he's the one I've been consulting with for Todd's pregnancy. He's been intensely involved in observing the development of Todd's pregnancy, so there shouldn't be any problems with him. He's Zelenka's brother-in-law."

John snorted at that, "Is he as grumpy as Zelenka?"

"Nope. He's actually a rather chipper fellow. He and his wife, Zelenka's sister, Evzenie, have two kids, he apparently delivered them both because there aren't any such restrictions in Czech," Keller was still smiling. "Now, if… um… River? River is a Human name too, and it's actually a part of his name, so that works right? River, if you would hope up here. How far along do you believe you are?"

"Our mating cycle was approximately 18 weeks ago," The Pilot answered for River as he assisted his mate onto scanner.

"Okay, so you're almost half-way there," Keller responded before activating the scanner a third time. Once it was done, she gave a nod and examined the results. "Well, your little girl looks like she's developing well. I do have one concern though. We have no idea what the results of attempting to give the retrovirus to River while he's pregnant. It could possibly be, quite frankly, extremely dangerous, both to River and the baby. On the flip side, I don't know how we can avoid giving it to him because he needs to feed on humans if he hasn't taken the retrovirus. This kind of feels like a no-win situation for us."

"Is the risk greater to the child or to… River and the child as a whole?" The Pilot asked, eyeing his mate with a firm look.

"Most of the risk would be to the baby, I would say, given that Wraith have a great capacity to regenerate and Todd's hasn't really diminished since he took the Retrovirus. My concern at present is that it could trigger a miscarriage which would be unpleasant at the least for River. In a human, there would be a lot of other risks involved with such a late miscarriage, but I'm not sure they would exist for a Wraith, to be honest. It's all very iffy. Then again for all I know, the Retrovirus could be perfectly safe for River and the baby. I'd say, best case scenario, River transitions as smoothly as possible, and the retrovirus also impacts the baby's development, but in a good way because it will mean that she will be born without the risk of ever needing to feed. Worst case scenario, I believe would be that due to the stresses on River's body during the process of physical changes from the retrovirus, or the impact of the retrovirus on the underdeveloped fetus, the baby will be lost," Keller clearly was opting to avoid sugar coating the situation.

"But even if the child is lost, any future children will be born without needing to ever feed?" The Pilot asked, his tone firm.

"Most likely, though there isn't any absolute guarantees. The retrovirus didn't prevent Todd from becoming pregnant and according to him, his pregnancy is developing as normally as any Wraith pregnancy should, so I doubt it will prevent any future pregnancies. I certainly don't expect his and Gen. Sheppard's child to be born with any need to feed. Though, their child _will_ only be half Wraith," Keller was being blunt with her answers, which John suspected was influencing the level of trust the Wraith were giving her.

The Pilot considered this before nodding, "I doubt you would allow us to leave without the retrovirus, not with the knowledge we would still require to feed on humans, River more so than myself. River will take the retrovirus, but only after I have done so."

Keller looked hesitant, but John shook his head in warning her not to argue against it. It really _was _the only option, as unpleasant as the situation was. Finally, she sighed, "I'll have the procedures set up for first thing tomorrow morning. I can do Arthur, and… his mate that afternoon. Please know that while it will be painful and unpleasant, we really do have your best interests in mind."

The Pilot nodded, he glanced over at John, "Have you thought up names for the rest of us yet?"

John wracked his brain for a second before smirking, coming up with a brilliant idea, "Sure, you can be Hawk, Hawk Swift. A Hawk was a type of bird we had back on our home world. They were lethal flying predators and fast too. One Who Flies Swiftly, Hawk Swift. As for Tricks over there, I think I kind of like that as a nickname, but an actual name the would fit would be Bran, it's the Gaelic word for Raven. Ravens were a bird known for their cunning, intellect, and love of playing tricks, even on humans they didn't like."

Keller snorted, "At least they're a little more original than Michael and Steve and Todd." She began adding the names to the scans of the pregnant males, no doubt adding Swift to River's name on his scan. She then gestured for the other two to get scanned as well.

"Hey, I have good reason for giving all those names. Michael means 'who is like god?' I picked that because we were basically playing God with him by trying to turn him human. As for Steve, it's generally short for Stephen, which derived from the Greek meaning one who surrounds. Since we got him from that ambush that he though was going to be his people ambushing us, it fit," John retorted.

Keller's jaw dropped, "What, are you a walking encyclopedia of name meanings?" She asked as she entered the information for Hawk's name into the computer.

"Hey, I put a lot of research into baby names while Nancy was pregnant with Rikki, okay? We went with Rebecca because Nancy wanted a biblical name. Our boy's name choice was going to be Richard which means Brave ruler and was also my grandfather's name," John retorted.

"Oh, and what about the name Todd?" Keller was barely containing her mirth now.

John flushed a little at this one before answering, "It… oh, alright… it means… it means fox. I picked it because he tried tricking me the first time that we met by hiding the fact he was a Wraith while we were talking through the cell walls. No matter what Rikki thinks I didn't actually name him after one of Nancy's flings. I didn't even remember the guy's name until after the fact."

Todd gave John a raised eyebrow at this, "They are known for being cunning and tricksters. We have a saying, sly as a fox. Get it? It certainly fits you." Todd burst into laughter at this.

Keller was giggling too, "Okay, that's actually kind of fitting. Honestly, we all kind of just thought you were giving them names of people you didn't like. Rikki didn't mention that one of your ex's flings was named Todd though."

John snorted, "I'm not petty enough to name wraith I think I might have to kill with the names of people I don't like. I tend to have more respect for the Wraith than those who have managed to get onto my shit list. For example, I would never name a Wraith Cole because I'm pretty damned sure that every Wraith on the hives we just blew up had more honor than that bastard, and their Queen apparently commits Femicide and feticide in what I can only imagine is some sick and twisted insurance policy that the baby girls can't grow up to be a threat to her."

"Femicide?" River spoke up for the first time, his voice holding clear confusion.

"The deliberate murder of females," John clarified for the Wraith. "Feticide is to murder an unborn baby. It's not the same as abortion, which is the parent willingly terminating a pregnancy out of necessity or because they have no desire to have a child."

The Wraith looked uncomfortable with that, "And this Cole did something you consider worse than that?"

"He tried to kill my mate by stabbing him in the abdomen repeatedly and then tried to have us killed again that very same night while we slept by one of his pawns because he doesn't have the balls to try to kill me himself," John snarled out harshly. "This was last night. It's a fresh rage still."

Bran and Hawk shared nods of understanding and disgust. It was, however, Arthur who spat out, "I trust you destroyed him."

"He unfortunately got away because he wasn't there, just his little pawn that I did kill, but believe me, the next time a get a shot at him, his death is a guarantee," John knew his voice held cold confidence.

River and Arthur seemed to relax a bit at this. River seemed to find genuine relief in this, "I am beginning to believe that the things whispered of you are not all true."

John raised an eyebrow at that, "And what would those things be?"

"That the change you usher in would be the destruction of the Wraith. If that were the case, you would not show the true honor that a proper Wraith Sire has in caring for his Carrier. Yet, here you stand, speaking to us as equals, allowing your Carrier to do the same, and even as you stand among the most vulnerable of our kind, you have made no attempts to harm them. These are not the actions of one who seeks to decimate our kind and wipe it from existence," River responded boldly. John relaxed a bit himself to actually hear one of the carrier wraith talking since they had been distinctly mute up until this point.

John snorted, "I don't believe in Genocide either. While I can't stand by and watch the Wraith feed on and kill humans, I'm not interested in wiping them out. That's why we came up with this retrovirus. It means that we can develop a comfortable compromise. It's the path with the least unnecessary bloodshed."

The four new Wraith nodded in understanding of this. It was Hawk who smirked suddenly though and spoke next, "While we are not accustomed to such beliefs, due to the necessity of our survival, we can respect what you say. One thing is true though. You clearly are a fearless leader who ushers in the winds of change, they just might not be change that should be feared."

John snorted at that, "I can't believe that what you guys named me. It sounds so pretentious."

"Wait, you have a Wraith name?" Keller now looked overly intrigued. "What is it?"

"Don't you have some surgery prep for a baby delivery?" John asked, annoyed now and trying to deflect.

Todd seemed to find it amusing though and actually answered, "The Fearless Leader of the Winds of Change. It is likely the most terrifying name the Queens who have encountered John could think up."

"That's a _scary _name?" Keller asked incredulously.

"There is nothing the Wraith fear more than those who do not fear them other than those who bring about forced change to their way of life. To be a Guide, or the first, such as myself, is something that most would live in fear of becoming. So, to be fearless and bring change is to be the most frightening thing imaginable to the Wraith. These four are showing great courage by choosing to follow the path that John and I are creating with our bond," Todd explained bluntly.

"It's still a pretentious name," John retorted.

"I don't know. It sounds kind of badass to me. Do I have a Wraith name?" Keller asked, clearly curious.

Todd shook his head, "Names are only given to those who frequently interact with Wraith. Though, you may acquire one soon, as more Wraith join our side."

Keller pouted before turning to Arthur and the important matter at hand, "Alright, so I will call Dr. Perrel and we will have the surgery set up. I'm assuming that Bran will want to attend the baby's birth, which is okay, since it's pretty common practice. So, until we get that set up, why don't you guys give the kids a chat, let them know that everything is going to be okay, that kind of thing. Wait, are any of these kids yours?"

Hawk answered immediately, "No, we would not have left our own offspring behind if we had any living. The last two of our progeny were females… This is Bran and River's first progeny, so none of the children are theirs either. The majority of these young were traded for from a breeding colony recently. The hives exchanged… humans for them. Thus, these young are unlikely to trust us."

John winced in sympathy for the kids at the idea of being purchased like that before realizing that he was hungry and if he was hungry, Todd was starving, "Well, the escort is going to stay with you guys until you've all have been given the retrovirus. I have a hungry and tired Wraith to feed and get to bed." It was true too. Todd was radiating exhaustion, now that John was paying attention to his mate's physical needs and he could kick himself for forgetting that Todd needed rest after the events of the day before just because everything exciting was happening all at once.

Todd seemed willing to indulge John as he was herded to the mess hall. John ordered double rations for Todd. He noted with satisfaction that there was a Marine scanning all the food, and then it was back to their quarters. Thankfully, the mess from the nighttime attack had been cleaned up, so there wasn't any reminder. Todd didn't put up a protest when John got him settled, simply eating the food as instructed before changing and curling up in bed.

As soon as he was out, John commed Rodney, "Sheppard to McKay. Do you have the security system fixed yet?"

"_Zelenka and I finished that hours ago. Unlike you, we don't feel the need to go galivanting all over the galaxy on the drop of a pin. I heard that Todd actually talked a few mature Wraith into taking the retrovirus though, so Jenn must be thrilled right now,"_ Rodney responded.

"Yeah, well the four who signed up for this did so because their Queen was killing female babies and guess what, they were two bonded couples, the carriers are pregnant with females. They went with the lesser of two evils in their minds," John explained.

"_We aren't evil though. Oh, well. I need to get back to work now if you want the Phoenix to have the Wormhole Drive installed before another hive decides it's hungry," _Rodney huffed before disconnecting.

John shook his head before contacting the next person he needed to talk to, "Sheppard to Woolsey. Please tell me we aren't picking up the negotiations this afternoon."

"_You're in luck. Or rather we all are, the Nox representatives have gone back to their city-ships to discuss setting up a mental health program for us and any new arrivals, be they human, Jaffa, or Wraith. The Tok'ra headed back to their ships too saying that there was on point in attempting to continue talks when two of the parties weren't present. We all agreed that they could resume tomorrow,"_ Woolsey explained.

"Thank fuck for minor miracles. Todd just fell asleep and I'm running on empty myself," John sighed. The call for help had come in just after lunch, so it was mid-afternoon now.

"_I think it's safe to say that most of us are. Lock up tight and get some sleep. Our Colonels have already completed your orders of ensuring that all the effects from those who were involved in the attack have been secured and there's not much for anyone to do today,"_ Woolsey sounded relieved himself as he signed off.

John took that as permission to strip down and curl up with Todd. It didn't even take that long to fall into a dead sleep.

**AN: For anyone wondering about the choice when it comes to names. I went with the 'names are conveyed through concepts' idea because a) there are people who genuinely thing with concepts and not words with dialogue in their heads b) I needed a good reason for all the Wraith being stubborn about not giving their names c) I needed an excuse for them to Keep calling Todd Todd and not Guide which is his actual name when you get into the Legacy books, even if they are aren't being regarded here at all d) I needed to find a way for John picking names for the Wraith to not be awkward as fuck. Also, sorry for the retcon on why John named Todd Todd. I decided I liked that John would give him the name for being sly (since Todd really is a middle-English origin name that means fox) better than him naming him after a guy that Nancy banged while they were married.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Please know that this chapter will be containing a bit of fluff to it, though there are some important plot developing situations going on too. Also, a new perspective and introspection.**

**ANN: For the Question about River. Sorry if i didn't include this information, thought i had. Pregnant Wraith require much more frequent feeding for the growth of the baby. Animals would't have been able to sustain River for the remaining 22 weeks of pregnancy. **

Chapter 16: What is a Colony?

When John woke, it was to the just barely rising sun letting light through the balcony window of their room and the sound of Todd's stomach growling. It was a relief to have gotten a solid night's sleep for once, especially given all that had occurred in the past 48 hours. Todd blinked awake when John got out of bed to relieve himself, his hair sticking up oddly and given that it hadn't been fixed yet, it added a comical aspect to Todd's appearance.

John couldn't help but feel a swell of affection for Todd at the sight. However, he couldn't linger on it. There was something he hadn't brought up the afternoon before because of Todd's understandable exhaustion that needed to be discussed. Once Todd had completed his morning necessities, John retrieved some fruit for Todd to snack on, since the mess wouldn't be open that early.

"So… What are breeding colonies and is it a common practice for hive Queens to kill females or terminate the pregnancies for female children?" John asked, as Todd began to eat the fruit.

Todd set aside the food, "Breeding colonies are planets where bonded wraith pairs who do not desire to be under threat from hive Queens that are less… welcoming will frequently choose to live. The locations are generally carefully hidden. In exchange for humans delivered at regular intervals, they will provide hives with young males or occasionally females if the hive has lost its Queen or a Queen requires a subservient Queen for an auxiliary hive under her command and has no viable options on her hives from her own carriers or any daughters. They make these exchanges on neutral territories, dead worlds, you would call them. They will often try to assist their young females through the transition periods. However, it is rarely successful, as it is rarely successful for wraith males to survive the transition either.

"As for your question about the practice of killing females. Yes, it is common. Roughly two thirds of the Queens alive will choose to kill any females born to mated pairs within her hive. The only females that are spared are, in some cases, her own female offspring or the female offspring of her own sons, those are called the Queen's Hive daughters. Some Hive Queens are far more… harsh however and will kill any females born within the hive. The remaining third of the Queens will permit the females to survive to transition, but they are rarely given the assistance and care during their transition to maturity that male wraith are given and are expected to show absolute loyalty to the Primary for her benevolence. Hive Queens will not tolerate potential threats to their control over a Hive," Todd finished before resuming eating.

"Which is why there are fewer females than males," John cringed with understanding. "No wonder you're worried about the survival of the species if that's the way they operate. Is there a chance that if we get into contact with one of these Breeding Colonies that they will be interested in the retrovirus?"

"From my understanding, it is highly probable that they would be accepting of it. No bonded wraith carrier that I have ever encountered is happy with the loss of so many of their offspring," Todd nodded as he ate. "I believe they only make the exchanges of their children for humans to feed on because they believe that once a young Wraith is past it's infancy, it's best chance of surviving the transition is on a hive. This is incorrect as they still die at an unfortunate rate either way, but I believe it allows them to believe it to be true, so they are not forced to watch more children than necessary die during the transition."

"Well there's that. So, we just need to find one of these locations and get them to talk to us, I guess," John pointed out. "I can't imagine having to choose between my kid's safety and them being with me. The separation from Rikki before I got custody killed me and I didn't even have a say in that."

Todd sighed, "It will be difficult to contact them. These colonies are carefully guarded as they are at high risk. If Hives were to find them, than the Hive Queen would order all female children and breeding pairs killed and seize the male children, leaving the Breeding Colony desolate."

John considered that for a moment before smirking, "How exactly do the Hives contact the Colonies then? I mean, there must be some way that they can let the Colonies know of a human drop off or exchange for some kids, right?"

"They will typically leave a messenger for those who regularly check the exchange worlds. The messenger will inform them of a gate address for the children to be sent to, and how many they are looking to acquire and then return to their Hive. The Hive then has two days to deliver a sufficient number of humans to the trade world, which will have enough sires to escort them back to their colony. The Hive may not send any wraith with the humans, and no transmitters within any of the humans, and they _will _all be checked. If these requirements are met, then the young requested will be sent to the address given by the Hive Messenger," Todd explained. "The children are never permitted to know the address of the colonies. Nor are any newly arrived bonded couples, presumably."

"So… we follow SOP, leave one of our people to wait for their person to check for a messenger on one of those worlds. We can leave our person in a cloaked Jumper near the gate. Then, when their person shows up, our people deliver the message about the retrovirus. We can give them an off-world site, where Keller can set up a retrovirus clinic, once she's been able to treat our current residents, that is. Then, they can decide if they want to maintain contact with us, maybe ally with us, or live their lives with their kids, free of the hunger," John shrugged. "Then rinse and repeat for other worlds. We'll be basically cutting hives off at the knees when they stop receiving new recruits, so to speak."

"And since there is the possibility that the numerous colonies interact and trade with each other, the word will spread among them of the retrovirus and our honesty in the matter," Todd smirked himself now. "And we have the perfect candidates for our messenger with our two new bonded pairs."

John nodded and checked his watch then frowned, "That's weird, Ronon is usually here for our run by now."

Todd raised an eyebrow at that. The day before would have been the first time since their bonding that John and Ronon _hadn't _gone running first thing in the morning, but then, there had been an emergency situation, which was typically the exemption to the rule. They should have been back to routine this morning, "Perhaps he thought you would be reluctant to leave me unguarded so soon after the last attack?"

"Nah, if that was the case, he would have check if we were going running," John responded before retrieving his com and activated it. "Gen. Sheppard to Ronon Dex, Ronon you alive?"

There was a grunt and snort that crackled through the com before he heard Ronon respond groggily, "_Yep, 'm awake. Sorry, I don't think I'm gonna make our run this morning."_

"Oh? And why is that?" John asked, more curious than anything, since Ronon was hardly one to pass up on exercise.

"'_Cause I got a… I think Keller said the kid was five… yeah, I got a five-year-old, sleeping, wraith kid clinging to me like a twarkal kit," _Ronon responded his voice just loud enough to be heard on the com, but presumably not so loud as to wake the sleeping child.

John had heard Ronon describe one of the most common wild animals on Sateda before. With the appearance of purple flying monkeys, the most amusing descriptor that Ronon had given twarkals was that they were insanely adorable, especially their young. It wasn't something he'd ever imagined Ronon ascribing to a Wraith child.

"How exactly did you end up the pillow of a wraith kid?" John couldn't help but ask.

"_That is a long story that I have no intention of telling you over comms. If you'll meet up with me, Teyla, and Halling in the infirmary, it will make more sense," _Ronon deflected. "_We gotta talk to you about something anyway."_

"O-kay… I guess I can head down there. When did Halling arrive?" John couldn't help but asking as he changed from his running clothes to his BDUs.

"_After you and Todd went to bed, I think. Lorne went pick him and a few others up from the mainland after you came back from dealing with the hives. He can explain better," _Ronon grunted again.

John rolled his eyes and noted that Todd was done with his fruit, "Well Todd needs to get his daily scan anyway, so we'll be down shortly."

Todd rinsed off his plate in the sink before retrieving his boots and putting them on. John smiled and led the way out of their room. He was genuinely intrigued now. Ronon had, until just a few days before, shown barely there tolerance for Todd, the only wraith he had even had remotely positive interactions with, barring Ellie. For him to eschew his normal patterns because he was a pillow for a wraith kid didn't make much sense. Sure, he had claimed before that he wouldn't hold being wraith against the children that they rescued and gave the retrovirus to, but that didn't equate to being a big teddy-bear.

When they reached the infirmary, it was to find Ronon standing outside it, and he did indeed have a 5-year-old wraith child clinging tightly to him in their sleep. John suspected he was only supporting the kid's hold to prevent unnecessary pressure on his neck. Teyla, oddly enough, was also holding a sleeping wraith kid, though, probably one of the youngest of the ones they picked up. She had a tender expression on her face as she looked at the toddler and John suspected that Torren might be getting an adopted brother. Kannan and Teyla _had _been discussing adopting an orphan. It just looked like it might end up being a wraith orphan and not a human one.

Halling's expression was pleasant as he gave John a traditional Athosian greeting. Todd was surprised when he received the same, "Gen. Sheppard, I thank you for taking the time to speak with me so early. There is a matter of great import that I wish to discuss with you before bringing it before your Mr. Woolsey and Gen. O'Neill."

John nodded, though he kept giving amused glances to where Ronon and Teyla were holding their respective kids, oddly okay with their clinging limpets, "What can I help you with, Halling."

"There is a practice, among the cultures of Pegasus, where, when a small, surviving group of people on a world are displaced from their home due to a culling, they will sometimes join with another, larger population on another world. I believe you are familiar with the practice through Ronon and some others, as Ronon has chosen to become Lantean, correct?" Halling began.

John nodded again, his expression slipping into the more professional, given that this _was _a genuinely serious conversation, "Yeah, the host world will record the history of the smaller group and they'll be absorbed into the larger population, right?"

"That is correct. This allows what happened to the survivors to be remembered, but also allows for them to not struggle to survive. In truth, this is something that has been a matter of debate for some time with my people. When Dr. Weir and you allowed us to stay on Atlantis initially, sheltering us, after we were attacked on Athos, our numbers were already dangerously low for a population. However, we were proud, and… reluctant to succumb to the necessary practice of joining with another world. By accepting your people's protections, and in return, aiding you with cultivating trading partners and growing crops to help feed you as well as ourselves, we were essentially able to retain a greater independence than we would have if we had joined with another population," Halling explained further.

"Okay, I can see that," John responded as a way to encourage Halling to continue.

"As I said, we have had a matter that had been up for debate for some time. Our numbers were even further depleted by the actions of Michael, meaning that we have too few people to sustain a population without interbreeding becoming a problem quickly. So, you see, by all rights, your people have, for a second time, treated us as welcome on your world. This time, you did so, knowing full well who we are and that we are trusted and knew of the practice of welcoming survivors into your culture. For the past six years, the adults of the Athosian people have debated, with no true resolution, on whether we would formally request to be considered a part of the population of Atlantis.

"We have, with the coming of age of our four youngest adults, finally come to a decision. Teyla's vote, as well as mine have been firmly in the position of joining your people from the start, the remainder of the adults, under the presented arguments of our four newest adults, have come to agree that we could make no better choice than to seek the permission to become Athosians of Atlantis. After all, when your people are already from so many varying cultures already, it is easy to believe that ours has a greater chance of being respected and preserved," Halling finished.

John couldn't help but feel a bit honored that the Athosians thought so well of the Lanteans, especially given the recent attack. His smile was a warm one as he responded, "While I would be _happy _to immediately accept you guys as Lanteans, I don't have the final say. At least, I can't make the choice on my own. It will have to be discussed with O'Neill and Woolsey. That said, I think they'll both agree that you guys have proven that we are definitely on the same side and if we are giving Wraith who take the retrovirus status as Lanteans, then we can hardly argue that you guys don't deserve the same. As for ensuring your history gets preserved, I'm pretty sure that the anthropologists who were with us when we first arrived already recorded, but if there's anything missing, I'm sure they'll be happy to go further in depth with you guys."

Halling smiled genuinely at John, "I was aware that it would be required to discuss the matter with Gen. O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey, I merely wished to speak with you first as you are the one that all the Athosians have known the longest."

"I get that. Is there anything else I need to know, or can I get to how Teyla and Ronon ended up playing babysitter?" John asked, curiosity overwhelming him.

"Jinto, Wex, Kerran, and Versan wish to speak with you on a matter. However, as they are currently still asleep with their… new friends… it can wait," Teyla smiled indulgently, though John couldn't tell if it was directed at him or the toddler in her arms.

"Kerran and Veran?" John asked. He knew most of the Athosian children, but he couldn't always remember their names.

"Reans Tworal's twin girls, their mother was culled when they were little. Reans was one of those that you rescued from that first Hive just after you arrived in Pegasus," Teyla clarified. "They are the same age as Jinto and Wex."

"Right, Jinto and Wex, who are both now considered of age by the Athosians," John gave a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, those are our four youngest adults. They were all singularly invested in convincing the others that we were already practically Lantean anyway," Halling seemed to be mildly amused by this.

"Right, well, I will certainly talk with them when they wake up, or at least when we all have a minute, I've got a lot of meetings to deal with today. However, I first want to know what's going on with these four," John gestured to Ronon, Teyla and their limpets.

Teyla flushed slightly, "When Halling arrived yesterday, Lorne had already informed him and the others of our partial success with the three hives. Halling wished to meet those who we retrieved, so Ronon and I brought them to speak with our new residents. While Halling spoke with the adults, one of the young ones was asking Dr. Keller about you, as they apparently sensed 'great mental strength' from you. Jinto and Wex overheard Dr. Keller tell them your name and suddenly we were surrounded by all the young wraith requesting stories of your 'great feats' after the boys declared you the greatest hero that ever lived.

"It… It is very difficult to deny children who have so _clearly _been deprived anything that grants them a sense of wonder, so much so that the next thing we knew, Ronon and I were begged for story after story. Jinto and Wex added their own opinions on the matter whenever the opportunity presented itself. Jennifer arranged for dinner to be brought to us and joined in, and then we must not have realized how late it had gotten because Rodney came to retrieve Jennifer and somehow got drawn in as well.

"Then Kannan came with Torren to find me and found he enjoyed the storytelling… Then Rikki and her friends turned up with Nancy, Dave and his family, someone apparently informed them that there was stories being told of your exploits… Then your brother began sharing tales of your youthful indiscretions… And then the younger children were falling asleep on us, and it was so late that we must have fallen asleep as well," Teyla looked distinctly embarrassed by this.

"And Ronon ended up with some extra weight, how exactly?" John turned to his other friend who was chuckling.

"The kid has guts. At first, I wasn't planning on staying long but he prodded me into sitting and the next thing I know, I got a lap full of kid. He could give Liam a run for his money," Ronon snorted.

"Liam?" John asked in confusion.

"Oh, Liam's one of the kids that I've been teaching to fight. He was a classmate to one of the kids on the evac lists so he got picked up with the class. He's about… seven… I think. He and I… we get each other. I was thinking about talking to Woolsey, seeing if I could be his guardian or something like that. The kid needs stability. This one needs it too. He's a stubborn little punk," Ronon indicated the one in his arms.

"You're planning on adopting? Why didn't I know about this?" John asked incredulously.

"You've been buried under work. I didn't want to distract you with my stuff… Besides, I was working through some… issues," Ronon half shrugged, he was clearly trying to avoid jostling his limpet.

"What Ronon means to say is that he has been working on revising his preconceived notions on the Wraith, given what he has learnt over the past few months, in most part due to the information that Todd has provided. He has been reconciling certain unpleasant truths, much like myself, and I suspect a great many other people on Lantea have been. While the Wraith have a long history of violence against our peoples, I do not believe any of us considered that some portion of them, and a majority of their young, have no desire to feed on humans if it can be prevented," Teyla ran her hand gently over the toddler's hair.

"Those kids will never have to face that kind of life now, you know. We'll make sure of that," John smiled crookedly. "I just hope that this is just the start of our successes on this matter."

Teyla nodded in agreement before adjusting her grip on the toddler, "I hope that Kannan and I will have your support in adopting this little one and another among the children. The other is currently pinning Kannan down with Torren." Her head jerked towards the infirmary door, amusement coloring her voice.

John, out of overwhelming curiosity, peaked into the room and was met with a sight he never would have imagined a year before. Wex and Jinto were in a huddle of bodies with the four oldest of the young wraith, plus the twin Athosian girls that John recognized by sight even if he didn't remember their names. Rikki was curled into Tom's side, with another wraith child curled into hers. Nancy was sleeping in one of the medical beds with two of the kids that looked to be about five or six sleeping on top of her.

Dave, Julia, and the twins had a couple of toddlers added into their cluster. Kannan was indeed pinned down, but awake, by a pair of sleeping toddlers, one wraith, one TJ. Rodney and Jennifer had a six or seven-year-old wraith tucked in between them on another bed, how the kid managed that, was a complete mystery given the relative lack of space avalible and Rodney's tendency to not be able to handle kids. The remaining five wraith children, who looked to be between seven and ten, were in another pile of bodies that included the remainder of Rikki's friends.

Including the two that Ronon and Teyla were holding, it was a total of 18 wraith children they rescued. The number was bumped up to 19 if one counted the newborn girl that Keller had delivered the night before, though, she and the adults were out of sight. Of course, there were a few Marines near the doors to both of the private rooms avalible in the infirmary, so if John had to guess, he would say that's where they were.

Dr. Carolyn Lam waved at him as she sat at the desk for the on duty, emergency physician. The smirk she wore told John that the woman likely caught a lot of the tales told of him and he pulled back out from the doorway to look at Teyla, "Please tell me there are pictures of that, because it is adorable."

Carolyn had apparently taken his poking his head in as an invite to join those out in the hall because she was coming through the door just then, "Oh, I have so many pictures. Too much blackmail material for the future to miss the opportunity."

"You get one of Rikki and Tom all snuggled in like that? I'm currently collecting long term evidence for their future wedding that I've known since the day they met it was going to happen," John was only half joking.

Rikki had obviously developed a crush on Tom the second she'd met him and John was pretty certain that while Tom was oblivious, thankfully, and currently didn't see her as more than a friend, that it could very easily change when she was older. At present, it was clear that Tom didn't think of Rikki that way, predominately because she was so much younger than him. However, their frequent interactions said that he cared for her deeply and there was a good chance of their relationship developing into more when Rikki _was _an adult as well, if Tom didn't end up with someone else before then.

"Ah, you were aware of your daughter's feelings. I had wondered," Teyla commented, glancing back to the doorway.

"Yeah, well when your six-year-old boldly declares that she's going to marry her best friend that she's _just _met, it's cute. When the crush persists for seven years, it doesn't quite qualify as a crush anymore. Luckily, Tom's a good kid and not a creep, so I don't need to worry about him hurting her, even if they don't end up together. He definitely would never take advantage of her feelings for him, at the least. I just think the odds are higher that they'll end up married just after Rikki turns 19, most likely before she turns 20," John smirked. "Nancy can't stand Tom because she think's their friendship is 'abnormal'. Well, she doesn't like any of Rikki's friends because of the age difference. As far as I'm concerned, as long as they are treating her like an equal and everyone's comfortable with the situation without anyone getting hurt and nothing questionable going on, it's all good."

"That's a very positive outlook on their friendship," Carolyn smirked. "Also, yes, I have pictures of those two snuggled in like that. I also have pictures of Ronon being wrapped around that little one's little finger like putty."

"I want _those _pictures too," John pointed out.

"Same. When did you get a camera anyway?" Ronon asked.

"Oh, I arrived for my shift early, saw the slumber party in the making and booked it back to my room to grab my camera. Personally, I think the best shots are of McKay and his and Jenn's little friend when he started to fall asleep," Carolyn flicked through the memory of the camera to show them the shots of Rodney nodding off with the already sleeping kid snuggled up against his chest.

"How exactly did that one happen?" John couldn't help asking in curiosity. "Rodney's skill with kids boarders on the non-existent."

"Oh, the kid started out in Jenn's lap, but once McKay showed up, he decided to interrogate McKay about his adventure with Jenn in that mine he and Carter fell into with Jenn. Next thing you know, McKay is the new holder of the kid and explaining the importance of understanding Newton's Laws of Gravity to a seven-year-old that's looking at him like he hung the moon," Carolyn looked way too amused by the detail.

"Teyla, what are the odds of Rodney and Jennifer adopting that kid too?" John couldn't help asking.

"Well, considering that there would be no need for diaper changes, a happy Jennifer, and Rodney would have a son that apparently looks at science as a necessity of life to know? Much better than the odds of Jennifer convincing Rodney to adopt one of the orphans as she has been attempting to convince him to do," Teyla admitted.

John sighed, knowing that Keller _had _been pushing for them to adopt an orphan because they would be better suited to a slightly older child rather than an infant, "Keller's going to adopt the kid with or without Rodney agreeing to it, isn't she?"

"I believe that is highly probable," Teyla responded with a nod of agreement.

"And Rodney is wrapped around her finger, so he'll agree, so long as the kid isn't what he considers 'too much work'. God, I hope that this doesn't drive them insane," John groaned.

Teyla smiled, "I believe that Rodney will be a better parent than he believes himself capable of being, once he is presented with the challenge. He does quite well with Madison, Torren, and Rikki, despite his claims that he is terrible with children. As for the child snuggled between him and Jennifer, he seemed to regard him with fond exasperation, though he did state that he was asking more rational questions than most children do."

John snorted in amusement at that. He shook his head as Keller appeared in the doorway to the infirmary and took in the group, "I can't believe we all fell asleep like that."

Ronon snorted, "Rodney's going to be bitching about his back all day today. Looks like you two have finally figured out which kid you'll be adopting."

"Yeah, once the little guy fell asleep, Rodney said he could 'tolerate' this one, so that's basically glowing praise from him when it comes to a kid. I knew we just needed to find the _right _kid and he'd go for it. Rodney will be a great dad. He just has to give himself the chance," Jennifer responded. "Even better, since Pegasus tradition says mothers name the kids, I get to pick his name. I'm thinking I'm going to name him after my dad, William. It shouldn't be too confusing since Rodney and I call Dad, Dad, and the little guy will be calling him Grandpa."

"Well, I'll back you when it comes to discussing it with Woolsey and O'Neill. Honestly though, I don't think they will put up too much of a fuss. The sooner the kids are integrated into the population, the more comfortable and happier they have a chance of being. We'll just have to find a therapist who is willing to help them with adjusting to the changes in their lives, to help prevent trauma… or more trauma I guess, since their parents traded them for food," John cringed at the last bit. "Seriously, though. Woolsey has been trying to encourage people to adopt or create surrogate family units. I don't think he's going to protest you guys adopting."

"Well, that's a very good point. It also reminds me that I do want to talk to you about something else, though, before the kids wake up. It's something odd that I noticed yesterday, besides the fact that they are all male, they are also, all _sires_. None of the kids, or young adult wraith we retrieved, besides our two couples, who don't count, are carriers. Todd, how likely is that occur?" Jennifer looked at Todd with serious concern. "There's something else, but I want to know your opinion on breeding colonies and the lack of carriers first."

"That is… peculiar. From what I understand, there should be an equal rate of birth between sires, carriers, and females. You must understand that much of what is known about breeding colonies is predominantly hearsay. The young that come to the hives are notoriously reluctant to speak of the nature or how the colonies are run. I do know that the practice of colonies started roughly eight thousand years ago as human numbers started to become far scarcer than they were during the time in which the Alterans were around. This resulted in the Hive Queens attempting to restrict the birthrate of new females, as I have said before, by eliminating the young females. This was so that more rival hives would not be competing for food sources."

"This in turn resulted in the establishment of the colonies by carrier/sire pairs that were unwilling to allow their young to be harmed for such reasons. Such colonies are regarded with a mixture of rage and appreciation by hives and their queens. This is due to the fact that while the colonies produce large numbers of young, which are necessary to have sufficient numbers of commanders to control the drones, they also produce queens, which are perceived as a threat to the hives' queens. There have been a few instances of hives finding the locations of colonies and in every instance, the hive Queen has ordered the capture of the young males and the execution of the bonded pairs and any females within the colony," Todd's expression and the emotions coming off of him, told John exactly how he felt about those actions.

Todd continued, "In general, it is believed to be a safe haven of sorts for bonded wraith that do not wish harm to come to their young. There is the unpleasant trade off of being forced to exchange their young for humans to feed on at regular intervals, but I believe that the wraith of these colonies do so to under the belief that their young will have a greater chance of survival for their offspring."

"Okay, well, while your description of the colonies matches up pretty well with what the other four adults describe of how they _believed _the colonies are run. However, it definitely doesn't match up with how the kids and our four in-transition wraith describe them. Apparently, they are a lot less reluctant to share what the colonies are like with us humans and the older wraith who have defected to our side, because before Jinto and Wex turned things into a John Sheppard Fan Club meeting, the kids and younger adults were _talking. _And they had a lot to say, especially to our four older wraith.

"According to the kids, Hawk's decision to take us up on the retrovirus likely saved his and Bran's lives and River and Arthur's sanity. They made it clear that in no uncertain terms, any newly arrived bonded pair receives an… unfortunate welcome to the colonies that the children were from. Specifically, the sires that control the colonies kill the newly arrived sire almost immediately and then give the carrier some sort of drug to prevent them having a miscarriage. After that, the carriers all loose their minds and are basically turned into glorified baby factories.

"According to William, the one that Rodney and I are adopting, those sires give the carriers this drug constantly, which causes a neurological degeneration and makes it so that they are constantly capable of being pregnant, raping them almost immediately after the birth of the previous child to produce the new babies. Oh, and the carrier children that are born? As soon as they are old enough, they start administering the drug to them as well, and physically force them to feed, which apparently isn't that hard due to the drug turning them into catatonic zombies popping out babies. As for the females, they kill most of them outright. A few are allowed to live until they begin to mature, then, they're thrown into hibernation chambers until someone wants them.

"Those kids are describing the colonies like they are the universe's most unethical puppy mills. They are run by sires who are apparently _not _bonded to any of the carriers and have absolutely no consideration or care for their wellbeing. And believe me, I don't think Hawk or Bran could possibly be capable of treating their partners the way these kids are describing the sires are treating the carriers on these 'colonies'. They have shown way too much care for their carriers for me to believe that. It sounds more like some sick sires figured out an easy, low-risk way to get humans to feed on without doing any of the work or having to fight other hives for it.

"Now, that isn't to say that all the colonies are like this, that we know if. These kids come from three different colonies, but it's possible that there are others that aren't as… horrifying, maybe even a few that do act as Todd has described them," Keller shrugged. "It's impossible to say."

John impulsively wrapped his arm around Todd's waist just before Todd's equilibrium faltered. The horror and devastation that came through the bond told John that Todd didn't agree with Keller's optimism. He then vocalized it with a shake of his head, "No… you're wrong. Roughly two thousand years ago… perhaps a little longer… the number of young that the colonies provided… they _substantially _increased. I… I had thought that perhaps there were so many pairs on them that they were taking the task in cycles, produce the child, hibernate for five years, then do it again… This… what kind of drug could force a carrier to produce offspring nearly endlessly?"

"Well, I might have a theory on that, but I will need fresh blood samples from you, from Sheppard, and from Bran, Arthur, Hawk, and River. If my theory is correct, it might mean that if something happens to Sheppard, we'll be able to ensure that it _won't _kill you. I just have a few more questions. Now, according to the medical information you gave me about the properties of the bond you and John share, if you somehow die, it _won't _harm John, other than the emotional repercussions of loosing one's husband. However, if John dies, it will kill you. The others confirmed this already, but I want to check. How exactly would that occur?" Keller's expression was analytical now. Though, if she _was_ right, it would be a small relief for John to know his death wouldn't automatically mean Todd's death too.

Todd sighed, "Within a matter of weeks, my mental state would deteriorate to such an extent that I would cease being able to communicate, my moods would vary between states of near catatonic to severe and violent aggression to even those that I have previously trusted. Within two months, my mental state would be at no higher a function than that of a volatile infant and likewise, I would not be capable of caring for myself, not even so much as to feed if I still were capable of doing so. I would not even be capable of standing or sitting under my own power. In Hives, it is considered an act of mercy to kill a carrier quickly after his sire has died as to ensure that the suffering is over quickly, if the carrier does not kill themselves immediately to prevent the degeneration."

"So, severe, rapid neurological degeneration. Kind of like an extremely fast acting Huntington's disease or dementia. That's… okay, I can see why killing the person in that state might be considered an act of mercy, especially if there's no hope of helping them and they have literally weeks to live before becoming near vegetative. I can also see how a wraith carrier in that state would be unable to fight back and prevent the kind of situation that has been described by the kids," Keller shuddered at the mental image and John could sympathize. He had no desire to put Todd through that.

He could almost imagine that part of the lack of bonds forming was wraith carriers avoiding the chances of it happening to them. If you were afraid of that and being at the mercy of a sire, it could be a strong incentive to prevent the building of trust or at least reliance that John believed necessary for the bond to form. Instead, he focused on the fact that Keller though that she might have a solution, "But you think you can fix it, or maybe prevent it from occurring?"

"Prevent more than fix. Honestly, once the brain begins to suffer significant damage, it's hard to come back from it, at least for a human. Unless there's something that restores brain function, which there might be a possibility, so I'm not ruling it out, but that's less likely than something else preventing the degeneration from occurring in the first place. Still, I need those samples, even though I have samples pre and post retrovirus, and even since the mating, I want to compare some things and check them in relation to the others, the kids, and you, John," Keller's expression was more thoughtful than anything else.

"Why me?" John couldn't help but ask.

"Because if my theory is right, which it might not be, you would be impacted by it just as much as any wraith sire would. It would also explain how you and Todd had _all _the necessary components to developing the mating bond in the first place," Keller explained in what had to be the vaguest terms possible.

"Right… fine, whatever," John shrugged. It wasn't like Keller wasn't secretly a vampire with taking blood samples anyway.

"Great. Let's get started," Keller's expression looked sinister.

"Uh… you don't need me for this right? Only I need to get the kids I'm supervising to the mess for breakfast, and then I want to take Liam and talk to Woolsey about adopting Liam and the pipsqueak here," Ronon remarked as they heard the kid's stomach growl and the small wraith's head pulled away from Ronon's shoulder.

"'m hungry," He mumbled groggily.

"Yeah, I figured you would be, pipsqueak," Ronon responded gently enough that one could almost forget that Ronon had a history of hating all wraith. To see the difference was almost adorable.

"Nope, why don't you collect the rest of the kids in there and herd them all to the mess with the rest. Not the ones who are already starting to feed, mind you, just the younger ones. I want the ones who need to feed to get the retrovirus today. The rest are fine for now, though I will decide on when they will be given the retrovirus once I see how the older ones handle it," Keller waved Ronon off.

Ronon nodded, disappearing into the infirmary with Teyla. Soon, they heard grumblings from a bunch of kids, some of whom weren't wraith, and some who weren't even children. Rodney leaving with little William was probably the highlight of John's morning. Though, it was clear that Ronon would have plenty of help between all the adults that had been part of the sleep-over. The Athosian teens requested permission to stay and provide emotional support for their new Wraith friends, which Keller agreed to.

If someone had told Ronon six years ago that he would like and respect a wraith, or even just be able to hold a civil conversation with a wraith, he'd have laughed at them and then shot them in the head because it wasn't possible and they were likely a wraith worshipper. If a year ago they had told him that he would consider adopting a wraith child and raising it with affection and care along with a human child, he'd probably have knocked that person out and then dropped them in Keller's lap, telling her that they must have had a severe brain injury because they were hallucinating. He certainly wouldn't have believed it possible back in those days.

Thing was, Ronon wasn't the same man he was five years ago. He wasn't even the same man he was just the year before. A lot of things had changed in the time he had stopped being a Runner and joined Atlantis. A lot of things had happened even since Atlantis had temporarily left Pegasus, going to Earth before returning. He never would have thought the interactions with three different Wraith, and a single human child would so significantly impact his view on them.

Ellie had been the first one. She was… not how he had ever imagined a young wraith could be. She, before the tragedy of taking the incomplete retrovirus that Beckett had created, had been almost sweet. She certainly didn't seem like the ruthless, cruel, monsters that he had always seen Wraith as.

Todd had been the second. Although he wasn't a child, like Ellie really had been, he also had done the completely unexpected. He had freely, of his own choice, returned all the life he had taken from Sheppard after aiding his escape. Sure, it was what they had agreed on, when they were escaping the Genii, but Todd had actually _done _it. He'd kept his word, basically proving himself more trustworthy than the Genii were in the process.

That had been an unsettling realization. The fact that Todd _kept _coming back and helping though, that was beyond baffling. Even with all his ulterior motives, he had still _helped them _on multiple occasions. At least it was baffling until it became clear to Ronon, perhaps even before it had to even Teyla that Todd was _infatuated _with Sheppard. That realization came when Todd had taken the retrovirus, even after he had believed that they had tricked him. Ronon didn't care how much Todd wanted to be free of the hunger, there was no way he would have rushed testing it, especially on himself, unless he had something else that he wanted, something _more._

That was why Ronon was so concerned about John spending so much time with Todd, the more he did so, the more obvious it became that Todd's feelings weren't one-sided. Sheppard wanted Todd back, even if he hadn't realized it yet. Ronon knew that the only thing really holding John back had been Todd's need to feed and a self-doubt that Ronon suspected came from his ex-wife's betrayal.

After all, if you commit to someone with the intent of forever, them betraying you in such a way was inexcusable. It was one thing if it was agreed that they would find company outside the relationship. There were plenty of people who had two or more partners, and no one had any issue with it because they were open and honest about it all. It was the deception that created distrust and self-doubt.

With the realization that John wanted Todd as much as Todd wanted John, Ronon had to come to terms with the fact that Todd would likely become a part of Ronon's life. That was if Ronon wanted to keep John as the brother of his heart. It was only a matter of time before they heeded their emotions, the attraction had been so obvious that Ronon was convinced even Rodney could tell it was there. So, he had gone to one of the therapists that the humans told him about and he started doing something he would never had imagined during his time as a Runner. He started talking with the therapist about _everything._

He told him about his childhood, his upbringing, his early start in training as a specialist with Kell as his Task Master. The loss of his unit to the wraith. The sense of betrayal over Kell's cowardice when Sateda fell. His time as a Runner had been the hardest part to explain. It was harder even than describing his brief stint as a wraith worshipper because of the betrayal of his former unit. Then he covered his relationships with John, Teyla, and Rodney. The sense of belonging he had finally again. The fear of loosing his family if he couldn't accept someone he hated on principle, like Todd. The therapist was probably selected by the Earth people because he was good. At least he seemed to make Ronon feel like he understood his concerns.

Then, he helped walk Ronon through accepting that Todd, and by extension the Wraith, might not be all evil. That part was a lot easier once Ronon learnt that the kids didn't want to feed. That _Todd _didn't want to feed. Learning that they had to basically be tortured into feeding, like Ronon had been tortured into turning onto a wraith worshipper for those few terrible days. _That _knowledge had allowed Ronon to let go of a lot of rage he felt for the Wraith.

Then, Earth had been destroyed and he was forced to watch as the survivors struggled to learn to breath, just as he had after Sateda. It was both easier and harder for them. It was easier because they weren't alone, being hunted by the Wraith. It was harder because even though they had a good number of the people from their world, more than Sateda had had even before the destruction the Wraith had caused, they had to cope with the monumental loss without anything to distract them. Ronon had been so focused on surviving all those years as a Runner, he had been deprived, for a long time, of the opportunity grieve. By the time he had the opportunity, it was an old wound, scarred, and ugly, but no longer raw and bleeding.

These people, however, had to deal with it all fresh. In the first fifteen days, he'd quietly wondered how John wasn't loosing his shit. Rodney certainly had, Teyla and Ronon and John had all been there for him. But John didn't and Todd had gone out of his way to help in everyway possible. In ways that Ronon hadn't expected. It had been Todd to subtly suggest to Teyla that the children might feel more secure if they had a sense of control over the situation by learning to defend themselves while in Ronon's hearing. Ronon knew that Todd had meant the words for him and not Teyla who was so busy helping organize the Athosians in helping getting farms set up on the mainland.

Ronon had seen Todd that first day, silently heeding John's request to protect his daughter from upset refugees. Had seen Todd helping create the essentials for people he didn't know, nor did he benefit from helping. He had seen the way that John had _looked _at Todd when he had seen him assisting Rikki. It was only then that it clicked. It wasn't infatuation. You didn't do those kinds of things for someone you had a crush on. You did those kinds of things for someone you _loved. _It had been almost anticlimactic to Ronon when Rikki had informed them about the wraith mating bond thing. It was obvious that Todd had been helping John keep his shit together somehow.

Ronon had still been struggling to do more than tolerate Todd at that point, but that had shifted with a little seven-year-old boy in one of the lessons he had started teaching to the kids that didn't have any families. Dr. Cassandra Frasier, one of the therapists overseeing helping the kids, had backed Ronon's request for the classes, so Woolsey had agreed. Liam, as the boy turned out to be named, was different from the other kids. Those kids were soft. They either lost their tempers quickly, or they only put half their hearts into it at first, in too much pain to find that they could express it through the discipline.

It took them time to realize that the discipline in learning martial arts forms helped them release the pent-up energy without hurting themselves or others. Liam had seemed to know that from the start. That had gotten Ronon's notice, so he had talked with the kid. He learnt that the boy had had no family even before Earth was blown up. That his last guardians, all his guardians in truth, had been unpleasant people. He had always wanted to learn how to protect himself, so with the opportunity presenting itself, he wasn't going to let it pass him by.

Ronon couldn't help feeling a kinship with Liam after that first conversation. They had both known what it meant to have to fight to survive. So, he had shared a little bit of his own past with Liam, not a lot, nothing like the amount he had told the therapist, but enough that the boy knew that Ronon got it, what it was like to be surviving rather than living. From there, over the last month, it had felt like almost a natural progression for them to develop almost a father/son bond. The kind of bond he could have had if Melena hadn't died and they had had kids.

Liam had asked a lot of questions. A _lot _of them were about the Wraith. Ronon knew that there would be innocent wraith kids, like Liam, eventually joining Atlantis, so he had done his best to explain things about in as unbiased manner as he could to the kid. This had been the final key to accepting the needed change. That and Liam's questions about Todd and John, since he knew that John was Ronon's friend.

Ronon hadn't exactly stopped hating _all_ the Wraith, per say. He just accepted that there were likely plenty of wraith out there that were like Todd, stuck in the worst situation possible, surviving, but unable to truly live, just like Ronon had been. Ronon would always hate the Wraith that took pleasure in making humans suffer and feeding on them. The ones that made Wraith Worshippers and Runners. There was no reason for him to not to, just like there was no reason for him to not hate humans who took pleasure in hurting others or turned their backs on fellow humans for their own wellbeing, like Kell. But there was no way he could continue to hate those who didn't want that violence, who'd never wanted it.

Which had led to him going with Halling, Teyla, and the other Athosians to see the wraith children, to see what he had essentially agreed to help fight for, just as much as he fought for humans. He hadn't expected a tiny, five-year-old wraith, at least according to Keller the boy was five, to come straight up to him, bold as could be, and tell him that he should sit too. Not when the rest of the wraith kids had looked at him with caution. He absolutely hadn't anticipated that same five-year-old immediately claiming his lap as a seat himself once Ronon had complied with the little boy's wishes.

Ronon couldn't help but call him Cooria in his mind. It was Satedan for brave hearted and the pipsqueak certainly was that. It took Ronon a little while to make the connection. All the younger kids had done something similar with the other adults, or older kids, as they arrived. He didn't think it was intentional, just that the wraith children were touch starved, like he had once been. Only they didn't shy away from what they never had, they actively sought it out, likely out of desperation for some sense of solidity in the suddenly changed world. They clearly craved affection desperately and Ronon didn't think he could deny it to at least this little, brave child.

He'd heard the kids telling Keller and the older wraith that their choice was likely one that saved them from death and worse just after he'd arrived with the others in the infirmary. He shuddered to imagine a life like the ones these kids had lived so far. He half suspected that Jinto, Wex, and Teyla were so eager to tell stories about Sheppard to inspire the kids because they were Wraith-kin and could sense the children's pain.

Even without that sense, Ronon couldn't help but join in. He was able to observe a few new things too. The little ones, that hadn't fed on humans yet, their feeding hand looked different. Where an adult had the creepy opening for feeding, the children had what looked like a slit that was cut into the hand but not bleeding yet. He knew that if Keller chose to give the younger ones the retrovirus now, that the cut would close, never opening up the way the slits on the older wraith had.

Where Ellie had been almost sweet, Cooria and the others were damned adorable. By the time Cooria had started to snuggle in on his shoulder, falling asleep, Ronon realized that he would be adopting two kids, not one, if he could talk Woolsey and O'Neill into letting him. He knew John wouldn't stand in his way on this. Not in the way of Ronon protecting a child from having to suffer to the point of feeding on humans just to survive like he had had to run just to survive.

So, when his conversation with the others was done and he was gathering up the wraith children, and the human adults that were apparently just as fond of them as he was of Cooria, he resolved to talk to Woolsey that morning, before he got caught up in the negotiations. Then, he, Liam, and Cooria could scout out a bunch of suites of living quarters in the less occupied portions of the city for not just them, but their family too. For Rodney, Jennifer, and both Williams. For Teyla, Kannan, TJ, and the two children that Ronon didn't know the names of yet, since Teyla hadn't named them yet. For John, Todd, and their unborn baby. Hell, even one for John's brother's family and one for Rikki and her motley crew of friends.

They could leave the hall they were in now to the former SG-1 to spread out a bit in. It would also put a bit of distance between John and his ex, who was clearly not over John, despite her own betrayal. Ronon nodded as he met Cassie, as Dr. Frasier had insisted Ronon call her, just outside the hall where the Earth orphans were. The others had taken the rest of the wraith kids to the mess already, but Ronon needed to get the Earth orphans up and going too. They would be helped by Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Lorne, who were likely on the next floor up waking up more of the kids.

Cassie eyed Cooria still wrapped around Ronon's neck before giving him a raised eyebrow, "How's Liam going to react to your new attachment?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll get on like… like… what's that sandwich with the two spreads, one is…" Ronon couldn't remember what they were called but it was a good sandwich.

"Peanut Butter and Jelly? You'd better hope they do. Otherwise, it will be like a house on fire and they'll out number you two to one," Cassie smirked.

"Eh, I can handle them," Ronon smirked back. "They aren't strong enough to take me yet, not even if they work together."

Cassie laughed at that. She was nice too. She was a lot like Melena, wanting to help others, but different too. She was also like Ronon. Like Ronon, she had been used as someone's plaything, by a Goa'uld to be precise, and she had also lost her world, like Ronon had. She was a bit younger than him, but Ronon felt like they had potential. Potential that Ronon wouldn't have had with Melena any longer, if she had somehow lived.

Melena had lived a life in a time when the wraith weren't as active. She had known little hardship. She likely wouldn't recognize the man Ronon was now, compared to ten years ago. She definitely wouldn't understand him. Ronon had hoped to find someone like Melena in Keller, only to realize that Keller wouldn't have understood him either. That had been surprisingly easier to accept, even if it did show him that maybe he wasn't the man who had once love Melena anymore.

If someone had told the Ronon six years ago that he could look at a woman other than Melena with more than potential friendship, he'd have decked him in the face. Only thing was, Ronon wasn't the same man, he'd met too many different people and learnt too many different things to be that broken man any longer. Ronon hadn't bothered with visiting the therapist since the fall of Earth, in part because the guy was too busy helping everyone else cope with their grief. Also, though, it was because he had met Cassie and while the therapist had made Ronon feel safe enough to express his concerns and fears. Cassie truly _understood _them.

Truth was, for the first time since he had lost Sateda, Ronon wasn't alone anymore. He had John, Rodney, and Teyla. He had Liam and Cooria. He had Cassie too. No, he wasn't alone anymore. He also wasn't living in the past anymore. The future was looking too bright for him to do that now.

**AN: Yep. I gave you a bit of Ronon's thought process and how he could end up accepting Todd. I felt it was only fair, since I know he was going a bit OOC with actively saving Todd's life. Also, the how wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it out, so this is what you get. Also, yes, I am totally going there with Ronon and Cassie. Their stories kinda run parallel with each other. Ronon loosing Sateda and being used as a plaything as a Runner. Cassie's people being killed by Nirrti and then learning later that she had been subjected to Nirrti's experiments to evolve a more advanced human. So, yeah, I couldn't resist. **


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Sorry for the Delay in this chapter. I kind of got a plot for another Atlantis story stuck in my head last week and so I ended up doing a bit of writing for that one. I apologize. **

**AN: More new perspectives! Also, Science! And a bit more fluff, sorry, some of it is being carried over from the last chapter.**

Chapter 17: Someone Else's Shoes

Woolsey had thought that after all he had seen over the past year and a half, he had become a bit immune to surprises. He was clearly mistaken as he was basically thrown for several loops in the course of a single morning. Before negotiations with the Tok'ra, Nox, and Jaffa could continue, he found himself being cornered with several adults in succession, most of them holding some admittedly adorable looking young wraith.

The most startling encounter had been the first, Ronon, with a human boy that Dr. Cassie Frasier had warned him Ronon would likely request permission to adopt. That hadn't been the shocking part. Ronon had spent nearly all of the past seven weeks helping care for the orphaned children of Earth. This was something that Woolsey actively encouraged because the man knew what it felt like to lose everything and felt the children would relate to him well because of it. No, the shocking part was that between Ronon and Liam was a five-year-old wraith child that Ronon had named Cooria. Apparently, Ronon wanted to adopt _both _boys. Liam had apparently been in whole-hearted agreement, for all that he had met his 'brother' barely an hour before.

Cooria had a sharp eye and clung to the hands of Ronon and Liam tightly, even when Woolsey asked for a moment to speak with Ronon for a moment in private. It had taken Ronon's reassuring the boy that he wasn't going to disappear for Cooria to relinquish his hold on Ronon. After that came a very… very peculiar conversation with Ronon. When Woolsey expressed a concern that Ronon had shown a previous extreme hatred for Wraith, Ronon had countered with another bit of shocking information, that he had received therapy to help him move past his anger towards the wraith.

Woolsey had still been reluctant until Ronon suggested allowing Dr. Frasier, a therapist who was also uniquely qualified for assisting a child born outside of Earth culture, to supervise his care for Cooria at random intervals without warning. Apparently, Dr. Frasier had made the suggestion as she believed that Woolsey wasn't as familiar with Ronon's choice to change his perspective on the Wraith and thus would be more reluctant. This suggestion, along with the assurances that Sheppard supported Ronon's choice to adopt Cooria and the knowledge that Ronon _had _very recently saved Todd's life, had Woolsey giving a tentative agreement to the arrangement, provided that he didn't see _any_ signs of mistreatment of Cooria going forward. Woolsey silently made a note in his calendar to speak with Dr. Frasier.

The conversation with Teyla and Kannan over the two toddlers they wished to adopt, named Orrilin Aiden and Serwen Rodney Emmagan by Teyla, tentatively of course before he gave permission, was far less tense, though no less surprising. Teyla had already spoken to him of her and Kannan having the intent to adopt a child, should they find one among the orphans that seemed to fit well with them. This, along with the knowledge that Teyla had a far more flexible view on the Wraith and was an excellent mother to Torren made Woolsey's answer far easier, even if they had decided on two children instead of the anticipated one. There was no doubt in Woolsey's mind that the two boys would grow up to be fierce fighters but the most mild-mannered people as well, just like their new parents.

The third set to arrive was probably more startling than it should have been. Dave and Julia Sheppard _were _Sheppards after all. They also wanted to adopt a pair of wraith toddlers and had gotten Gen. Sheppard's approval. This was a fairly easy decision to make, like with Teyla and Kannan. After all, the Sheppards had also been neck deep in caring for the orphans, as well as working to organize the severely needed school system, an art therapy program with the help of Mrs. Abigail Lorne, who happened to be an art teacher, and Col. Lorne himself, the martial arts lessons with Ronon and Col. Romanov, and cooking classes for the teens with the help of the mess hall staff, who were both teaching and using the teens as additional hands to help meet the increased demand of so many mouths to feed.

Honestly, Woolsey suspected that it was more the Sheppards' efforts with the help of their various cohorts that had done more to prevent a mass swath of teen suicides than the therapists, though they were certainly doing their jobs and then some at the moment. So, no, Woolsey had no concerns about allowing the care of the toddlers to fall to the Sheppards, who had settled on the names of Cathasach Richard and Faolan James Sheppard for the two boys. They were distinctly Irish, and Dave explained they meant Vigilant for Cathasach and Little Wolf for Faolan, both names that Woolsey could hardly argue weren't suitable. The choice for more modern middle names was simply so that the boys had easier names to go by if they chose, if they didn't like the more traditional ones, though James and Richard were old names as well.

At that point Woolsey had already started recording the adoptions in new files, getting the spelling of the name Cooria had been surprisingly easy for Ronon, as the man had apparently taken the time to learn to read and write in English, so he could roughly translate the spelling from Satedan to English. The same applied for Teyla and Orrilin and Serwen. He hadn't expected to have to have it spelt out by the Sheppards, but those names were certainly mouthfuls.

Thus, it was that when Halling arrived after the departure of the Sheppards, Woolsey couldn't help asking, "Let me guess, you _also _want to adopt a very cute wraith child?"

"The thought had not crossed my mind before you brought it up, but I admit I am not entirely opposed to the idea. However, that is not what brings me to your office. There is a matter of import that must be discussed with you regarding the relationship between the Lanteans and Athosians," Halling began, before launching into a long winded explanation of customs covering the absorption of one civilization into another and the Athosians' desire to formally become Lantean.

That was something that had absolutely _floored _Woolsey. As it had turned out, Ronon had already long joined Atlantis before Woolseyhad been given command of the city, though he wasn't officially considered a citizen of Atlantis before the destruction of Earth through the IOA's rule book out the window. Thus, Woolsey had had no notion of the practice or that the Athosians would consider it with the people of Atlantis. Still, he could only see the benefits to the arrangement. The amount of help the Athosians had provided over the years had likely meant the difference between success and failure for the Expedition and if the Expedition had failed, the outcome of the fall of Earth would have been a _very _different matter, as Ata _had _said it would have occurred, regardless.

Thus, Woolsey agreed that as long as O'Neill and Sheppard also gave their approval, it was a matter that could be easily settled given the presence of Teyla and Halling within Atlantis anyway. Halling seemed genuinely happy with this response and said he would speak with O'Neill when the opportunity had arisen, but Sheppard had already given his approval. It should have occurred to Woolsey that the Athosians would bring the matter to Sheppard first. There was a level of respect and awe they seemed to regard him with that bordered on worship. Woolsey wasn't certain if it was because of all the man had seemingly accomplished or because they felt he was the second coming of the Ancients. Personally though, Woolsey suspected that it was a combination of the two. Halling then left to go discuss with Teyla the matter of the negotiations and what had already been discussed.

The next group was waiting just outside his office with Halling's departure and Woolsey was being to wonder if there was a line forming. Still, he allowed Rikki's group to enter and present their 'brilliant idea' that _was _a rather good idea when it came down to it. While Rikki had been the one to lead the way into his office, it was Dr. Tom Richards that presented the idea.

He pointed out that their organization of the orphans, as a whole, had been a good short-term idea, as it allowed for greater control on the short notice, however, it could use a _lot _of refining. Namely, there were a lot of teens who didn't particularly like kids who were currently responsible for them. There were also a lot of kids who needed far greater emotional support than the teenagers could provide.

Woolsey couldn't argue with these points, so he nodded for them to continue. Richards then suggested something that likely should have occurred to them a while ago and likely only hadn't because they were so busy trying to ensure that everyone _survived _that they hadn't thought about how the children were _living._ The idea was something akin to a cross between the Big Brother/Little Brother program that had been in place in the US on Earth and adoption.

If they took a census of all the young adults and older teens, to determine if they would willingly agree to take on the care of a child while they weren't in lessons or therapy. Get their hobbies, interests, skills and the like recorded, then match them up with kids. It sounded simple enough, though it wouldn't be easy to implement. The lovely thing though was that it was something that he could bring up with the Nox and _they _would likely jump on that like an untrained puppy on a juice steak strip on the floor. They would even do most of the work for them.

Woolsey told the group to write up the concept and how it could be implemented, and he would present it to the people who would be best at organizing it, i.e. the Nox and the Sheppards. The group left happy, Woolsey felt a bit relieved that they hadn't requested permission to adopt any of the wraith children because while they had good hearts, that lot were scientists through and through, they were so absorbed in their work most of the time that they forgot to feed themselves, never mind another, smaller dependent. Also, most of them were fair to young to adopt any children at all.

Woolsey's hope that the previous two conversations meant he had spoken with all the people that wanted to adopt was dashed when Keller and McKay came in with a seven-year-old wraith child, one that Keller had already named William and William looked at McKay like he was the best thing since the age of dinosaurs. Woolsey would have been reluctant to agree to them adopting the boy if Keller hadn't immediately explained that Kannan had agreed to watch William for them while they worked, and he _wasn't _in therapy or lessons. Woolsey didn't bother with arguing. Keller was as stubborn at McKay was in her own way. McKay had even seemed oddly proud with William, stating outright that the boy had the potential for brilliance, he just needed the education and opportunity to shine.

After Keller and McKay, Vala came in with Mitchell and Jackson, asking for permission to help with the orphan wraith kids. Woolsey was baffled by this even as he agreed, given the need for more volunteers. Mitchell departed with Vala and that was when Jackson explained that they had had to talk Vala out of trying to adopt one of the kids outright. He and Col. Mitchell were convinced that it was predominantly the pregnancy hormones talking and making Vala want to adopt anything small and cute and that her short attention span meant that if she wasn't genuinely serious about it, her attention would soon shift to something else.

With this clarification, Woolsey gave a nod of understanding. However, he realized, it was almost time for the negotiations to continue and so he had to scramble to make it to conference room before others started showing up. He failed as O'Neill, Sheppard, Todd, Teyla, and Halling had all beat him there. At least it was _his _people present and not the other groups.

Once matters with Woolsey had been settled, Rodney had taken charge of William for the day. Jenn had to go through eight retrovirus treatments for the day, so she wouldn't be avalible until that evening, and even then, it would be extremely late when she finished. So, Rodney figured he could make the day an easy enough one. He would take William through checking on the various projects that his people were running, so the boy could see all the wonderful scientific discoveries in the making. Then, he figured he would join Ronon and his two new kids on the quest for family suites. Rodney might like William, by there was no way he was sleeping in the same room with him and Jennifer. There were so many issues with the idea, starting with the fact that the boy was seven.

Oh, Rodney knew that the kid would probably come to them with nightmares, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have his own room. Plus, Rodney and Jenn needed their private time too. Rodney just needed to find the perfect little two-bedroom suite for them. One with a balcony, nice little kitchen, and stunning view. Jenn would like that, especially if it was near a transporter in case of a medical emergency.

William watched in wide-eyed fascination as Rodney spoke with several members of his staff. He started with Kusanagi, who was working on organizing and taking over Kavanagh's work, after his untimely death. Rodney felt more than a little sympathetic as the woman was already incredibly busy, but she was the best person for figuring out where Kavanagh had been in his project to backwards engineer the transporters in the hopes of creating a network that would allow for far faster travel between the city and mainland. It was genuinely a pain to have to fly people back and forth, never mind that the children that ended up living on the mainland would also need a way to get to the city for their school lessons.

After his check in there, he headed to Jeannie's lab, where she and Lee were covering the much more vital task of analyzing the data on the conversations occurring between John and Rikki while why were in the control chairs, preforming the data transfers. Given the importance of the project, as it gave a monumental amount of information on how the Neural Interface worked, the two of them were given a much more secure lab.

Jeannie looked more amused than anything about Rodney's companion, but didn't comment, instead, telling him that they would have a report on the data when they finished compiling it. Lee just gave Rodney a glare, but then, Rodney was certain the man hadn't forgiven Rodney or the rest of their team for legit stealing the Jumper he had been studying to get back to Atlantis to rescue O'Neill and Woolsey. Or for having Elizabeth play him in order to get their hands on the key card needed to do so.

Next on the list was Rikki and the rest of his minions. He was pleased to see the group hard at work. Rikki and Tom were, it appeared, assembling a staff weapon, though it didn't look like a normal staff weapon, so Rodney figured it was the newer model. Meanwhile, Amelia, Sebastian, and Jeffery were all working diligently on computers.

"Well, my favorite little minions, what updates do you have for me?" Rodney asked. This was always the least disappointing room to check on because he didn't have to yell at anyone here. They all actually double _checked _their work before bringing it to him, though Jeanie and Lee did that as well.

Rikki looked up and smiled, "Oh, perfect timing. We need permission to go to the mainland to test the two different models we have designed. As you know, we have the modified Jaffa Staff Weapon and then Tom and I created a new, much more improved version that we've dubbed the Lantean Staff Weapon. We think we've finally worked out the correct counter-balances for the weights so the staff is as perfectly balanced like the originals are."

"Great, wonderful. Finally, some good news. William, take Rikki as an example. She always makes sure she double checks her work and she isn't an idiot who does things without asking permission when she knows she needs to," Rodney patted the boy's back.

"What is a Jaffa Staff Weapon," William asked, clearly curious.

Rodney nodded, the question, was of course a reasonable one from a child that had never encountered them before, "Rikki, you want to show William the original." It was the kind of question that an intelligent person would ask for clarification.

Rikki grabbed the starting weapon that she had been basing her designs off of. Once she brought it over, Rodney took it and held it for William to see, "This is a Jaffa Staff Weapon. It's a powerful, if outdated, weapon that discharges a plasma blast from this end. They use this other end to act as a counterbalance for the heavy head, but also it doubles as a club, that they can use to temporarily stun someone by whacking them with it. Now, this one is heavy, and it isn't as accurate, as powerful, or as versatile as the new versions that Rikki's been working on."

"Oh, that's smart to make it more accurate. There's no point in firing a weapon if it isn't going to hit what you want it to," William responded.

"That is an excellent point. Now, Amelia, Sebastian, Jeffery, what have you three been up to?" Rodney turned his attention back to the three interns. He was giving them the benefit of the doubt, given that Rikki and Tom weren't useless, and he doubted those two would be friends with idiots who were useless.

"Well, I think I have a decent idea for a dissertation," Amelia smiled brightly. "I'm sure you've noticed the annoyance and complaints that those who are training on the Jumpers are mostly being used to shuttle people back and forth from the mainland when they _should_ be trained on more complex combat maneuvers if they are capable of them, right?"

"Yes, Kavanagh was working on recreating the transporters to resolve the issue," Rodney huffed.

"Which is all well and good for people in small groups, but it's not going to do much good for larger loads, like harvests and other supplies. I was thinking for my dissertation, I could create the designs for fully functional transport ship, kind of like a cross between a Jumper and a pontoon. Big enough to transport harvests and stuff, it flies like a Jumper, _but_ it doesn't require the ATA gene. The idea is for it to be easy enough to learn to fly that just about anybody can do it, but it's only planet side," Amelia looked hopeful.

"A little mundane, but definitely worth it and definitely not a cop-out since you'll be creating something completely new. You're approved. Do it. If it will stop people from bitching about transportation, it will be worth it long term," Rodney nodded.

"Right, well, my idea's a little more… exciting, but way more complex too and I definitely need your approval to even touch half of the stuff I need for it," Sebastian presented his idea next. "I was thinking of creating a new kind of ship that can go through the gate. One that's a lot more versatile than we've got right now. See, from what I understand, we've got Jumpers, that can only be operated by people with the ATA gene. We've got darts, which while anyone can use them and they are maneuverable as it gets, are really difficult to fly if you aren't trained carefully on them or capable of flying anything, like Gen. Sheppard. We've got Death Gliders, that aren't as difficult to fly, but their fire power leaves something to be desired in our current combat level, especially with a threat like the Naari headed our way eventually. There's also the F-302s, which have a decent fire power, but they aren't actually designed to fly through the gate.

"So, the idea I had was a ship with the carry capacity and cloaking of a Jumper, the ease of flying of a Death Glider, the maneuverability of a Dart, _and _the fire power of a F-302, and it can also fly in space and is submersible," Sebastian finished and looked hopeful.

"If you can get it to work, though you are aware that it's going to take you like, at least a few years to work out how to mesh it all together, right?" Rodney asked.

Sebastian shrugged, "As long as I get it done before the Naari show up and we can use it with efficiency, it will be worth it."

Rodney nodded, "You will run every portion of your designs past Tom and Rikki _before _it reaches me, understood?"

"Yes. No messing around, no unnecessary risks, I will quadruple check my calculations and designs for flaws before bothering Rikki and Tom with it, and I know that other work might come first, depending on the situation at hand," Sebastian nodding in agreement.

"Good. Well, Jeffery, you've had over a month to adjust to the reality of learning that nothing is as you thought it was in the sciences, what brilliant idea for your dissertation do you have for me?" Rodney asked.

Jeffery looked uncertain, "Well, I was thinking of creating new kind of beaming tech based off the wraith dart tech. If it could be miniaturized, or at least be made more compact and compatible with our Jumpers or the Death Gliders, than we could use it for rescue missions. No need to land and wait for someone to climb in when you can just scoop them up and bring them back through the gate quickly."

"Hmm… not a bad idea, practical, but not easy or simple by any means. Again, no cutting corners, no taking unnecessary risks. Walk every stage by Rikki, Tom, and me," Rodney smirked. It seemed like this day would be a nice day. "See, I knew you three could come up with much better dissertations than your original ideas. You just needed the right inspiration. You would have been wasted on Earth."

William seemed happy to follow Rodney from the lab. The boy was content to observe and only ask questions when he needed clarification. It was nice to not be stuck dealing with an idiot child. Not that Maddie or Torren, the only other children he dealt with on a regular basis were stupid, it was all the rest that were. They didn't understand that you couldn't play with important scientific equipment or interrupt when brilliance was occurring.

Jenn smiled as she officially took over for the day from Carrie. Carson would be joining her shortly and working with her as they gave the retrovirus to eight different wraith in one day. There had been a bit of debate over who would go when, though they would have to do multiple wraith at a time, since the process, by necessity, would take several hours. There was no rushing the process. As it was, she had to deal with the complex issue of River, who she would genuinely avoid giving the retrovirus if it was possible. The problem being that while animals could do in a pinch to prevent outright starvation, if the wraith had fed on a human recently enough. Pregnant wraith, according to Todd, required substantially more life force. River simply wouldn't survive to term. He would either miscarry or starve before then.

Jenn had ordered the room that they had used for Todd's transition prepared for up to four at a time. They would have to rotate the scanner over the wraith, but since it was thankfully the portable one, it wasn't too big an issue. Hawk was accompanied by River, who wanted to remain by his side for the duration of the procedure. Jenn allowed it, since it wasn't exactly a surgery and while the transition was painful, she suspected that Sheppard's presence for Todd had done wonders to help him through it, for all that they weren't bonded yet.

The other three wraith to go first were two of the younger wraith, though one was definitely the oldest of that lot at 87-years-old, according to him, and Bran, who had insisted on going before his mate as well. Keller was beginning to wonder if the dynamic between Sires and Carriers was really about dominance and submissiveness or just a seriously wired in protective streak in the Sires that their Carriers instinctively indulged. Or it could be a side effect of the bond, since John wasn't Wraith, but seemed to behave exactly the same way as Hawk and Bran were when it came to Todd's safety.

It also made Jenn wonder if perhaps there was some sort of brain chemical release, or at least that was why she insisted on getting blood samples from all the bonded wraith plus John. The nice thing about Ancient tech was that unlike a Mass Spectrometer, the Ancient machine designed for isolating and determining different components of blood work seemed to look for _everything_. She wasn't even certain how it identified them, but she was certain that by the end of the day, she would know if there were any weird brain chemistry going on.

Jenn smiled brightly at her patients as they were secured to the beds, "Sorry about this, but I assure you that is its predominantly for your own safety. The retrovirus can cause some pretty severe pain, or at least it did with Todd, and since we don't have painkillers designed for Wraith… for obvious reasons… there isn't much we can do about it, but prevent you from thrashing about too much and minimize any damage that your body would then be forced to heal."

Bran and Hawk nodded sagely, while the younger wraith, that really needed names, looked a bit more frightened but Jinto and Wex had come to play emotional support for them, which Jenn found rather amusing. The wraith seemed to have bonded with the teens and they had spent part of the night before, once things shifted away from the interesting stories about John, conspiring in whispers. There were many a glance at Teyla and Ronon, but the conversation was left to the teens and young wraith.

Once Jenn had run them through the preliminary scans, she and Carson began administering the first phase of the retrovirus. In truth it was three different retroviruses, but it was too complex to explain as although they each did different things, they all worked in conjunction and needed to be done in the right order to minimize bodily distress. Jenn started with Hawk, then moved on to Bran while Carson administered it to the other two. Their vitals were monitored carefully, Jenn and Carson walking between the different beds. She was pleasantly surprised to note that the younger two were exhibiting extremely low levels of stress from the transition, which in a way made sense, they had not grown accustomed to feeding on humans yet. Still, the interesting part was that Bran and Hawk weren't showing much stress either.

In truth, they didn't seem like they were under any significant stress at all, especially compared to Todd. When questioned, they all admitted that while they weren't particularly comfortable, it wasn't exactly painful either. Though, Bran and Hawk admitted that if felt more like a mild ache, after a bit of pressing, so it _might _have been slightly more for them than the two unnamed wraith.

Once the time limit was up for that part of the transition, the scans all read out exactly what Jenn wanted to see, so she happily moved on to the second phase. This part _was _somewhat painful for the four wraith, however, once again, there were far fewer stress indicators in them than there was during Todd's transition. It also didn't appear to take quite as long for the enzyme sack to be eliminated. Jenn couldn't help being a little intrigued by this.

On the one hand, Todd had been _much _older than any of the ones on the medical beds now. Todd was around 10,500 years old, give or take a few decades. According to Bran, he was 469 years-old, young enough to still be keeping a closer track on his age, apparently. Hawk was a bit older at somewhere around 1,200 years. However, that meant that Hawk was more than eight times younger than Todd. Bran was something like twenty-two times younger than him. The next oldest in transition was 87 and the youngest one to go so far was 37 and that meant that Todd was over two hundred times older than both easily.

Of course, that wasn't the only isolating factor. All four in transition were sires, while Todd was a carrier, which could also be a factor. Jenn was fairly certain that she could rule out the being bonded altering the impact of the transition speed or pain levels, or at least mostly, because the younger two weren't bonded at all. Still, she wasn't going to complain about anything that made the transition less painful for her patients. She smiled brightly as they came through the second phase without showing much distress at all and ran the scans to confirm the enzyme sack was gone.

The true test of endurance would be the feeding hand and the switch over for the body's systems. As she injected first Hawk and then Bran, they were the first to be checked after she finished checking the other two and allowed Carson to give them the final stage. River and Arthur looked a little upset, and it was obvious why. Their readouts had shown a significant spike in stress, which Jenn suspected correlated to a spike in pain.

"I'm sorry, this was the most painful part for Todd as well. Though, he was in a lot more pain than you. It's unfortunately going to take the longest amount of time as well," Jenn explained while trying to be as sympathetic as possible.

River and Arthur simply nodded somberly as they sat in the chairs beside their mates. Jinto and Wex had taken to distracting the other two by telling stories that they had been told by John to them. They were, understandably distorted a bit in the retelling, but Jenn found it amusing. The only break in this was a brief period where Sheppard himself came to talk to the boys in the hall. Both looked somber, but they seemed to lower their voices and give the Wraiths some sort of information that Jenn simply didn't have time to investigate.

Fortunately, like the second phase, the distress from all four that were transitioning ended sooner, taking just over three hours. That meant that the total transition time for them took six hours instead of eight. The scans, however, showed that they _were _fully transitioned and that their bodies were functioning similarly to Todd's.

Jenn sent a few nurses to get the prepared, light broth for the newly transitioned wraith, "We're going to start you off with something light for your stomach, so that we don't overwhelm you. If you can keep this down, then in a bit, we'll have something a little more solid for you. In the meantime, check out your hand."

As she said this, she started undoing the restraints for them. Hawk was the first released and he immediately did check his feeding hand, a barking laugh was released almost immediately afterwards. He showed it to River who almost beamed with a smile of delight, or as much as any that Jenn had seen on a wraith.

"I have to admit, I'm a bit relieved that it wasn't as strenuous on you lot as it was on Todd. Now, that could be because he's older, or because he's a carrier. If it's the first, than that does significantly reduce my concerns for River and his child, given the fact that less stress on the body will significantly reduce the dangers to the baby. If it's the second, well… we'll have to see. I'm really, hoping it's the first though," Jenn admitted.

The younger two wraith looked at her hopefully, "Once we have eaten, will we be permitted to find quarters and move about?" They were rubbing their hands that once held the feeding apparatus but while it looked like they might be a bit sore, they weren't showing signs of significant pain. They shared looks with Jinto and Wex that made Jenn wonder what they were up to, but she didn't bother pressing, instead telling the truth.

"Not just yet. I want to keep you under observation for a few hours. Mr. Woolsey has likely already arranged for temporary quarters for you all. Also, Dr. Jackson, who's running the anthropology department stopped by earlier. He said that he and the others would be happy to help you pick out names for yourselves. Once you do, I'm going to need them, for your medical files," Jenn explained.

"So, we may truly choose our own names?" The older one asked.

Jenn nodded, "I know that you weren't given that option at the colony or the hive, but yes, you'll need at least a first and last name. For humans, a first name is generally a name given to you by your parents when you're born, though some choose another when they get older. The last name is a family name, it's the name that gets passed down to your children, well, either your last name or your partner's last name will be given to your children. We use the two names to help distinguish and identify people more easily. Some people however have more than two, they can have middle names, for example, my name is Jennifer Ophelia Keller. Ophelia was my grandmother's name, so it was given to me as a middle name."

By this point the nurses had returned with the broth and handed out the bowls to all of them. The use of a spoon was a novelty to all of them as was drinking something like broth. Most likely because it had been a long time for them since they had eaten anything rather than feeding. Thus, it was slow going, even as Jenn got the other four set up on the medical beds, having those who had completed the transition settle on chairs as they ate.

She then began the process over again. She paid particular attention to Arthur's and River's readouts during the first phase. Arthur, after all, had just given birth, and River's pregnancy had Jenn particularly concerned. However, despite her concerns, like the first four, there was little sign of destress from any of the second group. River's levels were fractionally higher than the others, but Jenn hoped that was mainly because of the Wraith's worries about his unborn child, or perhaps the retrovirus's transitioning the baby as well. Either way, when the first hour was up, the scans came back excellent.

Jenn's relief carried her through the other two phases. While River's transitioning _did _end up taking longer than the other three in the second and third phases, there was absolutely no indication of stress to the baby. In fact, the scans registered that the baby's DNA was taking in the retrovirus as well, which was the most optimal option in Keller's mind. It was, in truth, perfectly reasonable, given that the retrovirus was also transitioning the unborn child, that River's third phase took almost five hours. His transition was almost ten hours long, but Jenn didn't care as she took the final scan, smiling brightly.

The first set had all had two solid meals by this point, as well as determined their names, and the other three from the second set were eating their second official meal, but first one that was solid. Jenn chipperly informed the mated couple of the good news though, "Well, it looks like River and the baby have _both _had a successful transition. I can't tell you how relieved I am by this."

Hawk nodded and his relief was clear as well. Todd and John had come to check on the transition of the second group, after their meeting. The Nox representatives were also present and talking with those who had already transitioned and were giving their own form of examinations on the group.

Lya came over and gave the couple a polite bow, "If I may, I have some experience as a healer. May I examine River? I wish to confirm that the child is well."

The two wraith were clearly uncertain what to make of the Nox but reluctantly Hawk nodded, "Provided that it is nothing invasive."

"My people can sense if there is something wrong through a natural gift we are born with. Some of us choose to hone this gift. It will be this I will be using, and I assure you that no harm will come to either your mate or your child," Lya responded, clearly unoffended by Hawk's sense of distrust.

Hawk didn't seem happy but waved for Lya to proceed. He was tense the entire time that Lya's hands hovered over River's abdomen with her eyes closed. When they opened, she smiled, "Your child is quite healthy, and Dr. Keller is correct in her belief that the retrovirus has changed her so that she will never need to feed as you have been forced to do until recently. I wish you and your mate great happiness. We are quite impressed with your retrovirus, Dr. Keller. It is clearly designed to aid these people with as minimal pain as possible. That it safely allowed a still developing infant in the womb to transition speaks highly of the efforts you put into ensuring the safety and health of those receiving it. It is gratifying to see such care for those that others would consider the enemy through a need that is no fault of their own."

With that, she and Ohper departed, looking extremely happy. Jenn couldn't help smiling indulgently, "Sorry about that, the Nox are a strictly pacifist species. They were concerned about your wellbeing, which is why we allowed them to do a physical examination of you guys. If we do, they have little reason to complain. Now, I want to keep River overnight for observation. If his pregnancy shows no signs of any problems, we'll take up the same practice we have with Todd, daily scans, but otherwise he'll be free to do whatever it is that is his skill set."

"I was a scientist on our hive. We were called Clevermen," River supplied.

"Ah, well that puts you under Rodney's jurisdiction. What about you, Hawk?" Jenn couldn't help asking with a yawn.

Although she had taken the time to get some food in during the transitioning, it had been a long day and Jenn hadn't exactly gotten the best night's sleep the night before due to sharing a tiny bed with Rodney and William. She just hoped that Rodney hadn't spent the whole day in the labs, leaving William to get bored. Carrie had returned and Jenn left the couple to give her the good news. Carrie, like Jenn, really wanted to see the success of River's case as it meant that possible future cases that weren't far enough along to safely deliver had a better probability of success as well.

Jenn also shared her theory that it had been Todd's age that made the transition more painful, rather than his status as a Carrier or any other reason. This was supported by the fact that Arthur, who was only 296, had shown greater distress than the 87-year-old, but less than Bran, River, and Hawk, who were all older than him. Carrie said she would review the assessment, but she hoped it was correct, because if that was the case, they should be able to safely transition the younger children without any risk.

Once the initial transition had been finished for him and he had finished the 'broth' given to him, the 87-year-old wraith had allowed himself to be shuffled off to the side of the infirmary a bit. He was shortly approached by a man with sandy-blonde hair, a bright smile, and a tablet like he had seen the other doctors carrying about, "Hello, I'm Dr. Jackson. I told Dr. Keller earlier that I would come help you guys pick out names. This here is a rather comprehensive list of human names from Earth, along with some Satedan and Athosian names that have been supplied by Ronon and Teyla, though, those aren't as comprehensive as the ones from Earth.

"Now, from what I understand, the Wraith seem to choose names for each other based on their actions, traits, and personality. With that in mind, I was thinking that what we could do was help you find names with meanings for what you either wish to be, or maybe some trait you want to possess or even respect, something like that. That way, we have a balance of respecting your traditions and give ourselves something that we can actually use rather than the mental names that according to Gen. Sheppard the older wraith have."

The wraith shared a look with the other one who had transitioned at the same time as he had. He shrugged. It made as much sense as any and it wasn't as if he was losing some sense of identity by choosing a name. Jinto had explained that Athosians had picked names for family members or similar reasons to those that Dr. Jackson had explained. Jinto's name apparently meant 'breathes like the wind' so, he could assume these Earth names had something of similar value. He didn't know exactly what his choice would be though.

Daniel spent the morning with the few wraith children that didn't already have someone adopting them. He, and Vala, since she insisted on joining, spoke with the kids and explained the point of names and why they were important. He then went through the complex process of helping them pick out their names. He was mildly amused to find that most of the children wanted to choose the surname Jackson after exposure to him, but he successfully diverted them to something they could take pride in when they were older.

Though there were far less children than he had initially anticipated, it took Daniel a while to finish with the group, entering their names into their base file for Keller, along with a picture of them and their assigned number, for Woolsey's insistence of keeping everything consistent and organized. He had heard Woolsey muttering about getting the Athosians numbers as well, since they were officially becoming Lanteans.

By the time he was done with them and left them in the care of Cam's mother and grandmother, the first group of wraith had finished transitioning. Thankfully, two of them already had names, curtesy of Sheppard giving them a comfortable approximation from their Wraith names, so the other two were the only ones he had to work with for now.

If he had thought that getting seven kids to settle on a first and last name was difficult, it proved to be infinitely more so for the two that he was working with. They were both much older and had gone far longer without any sort of name beyond being called 'Progeny' or 'Adolescent'. The younger of the two was easier than the 87-year-old. He wanted a name that stoked fear into the enemy of his people, who, apparently were Sheppard, Wex, and Jinto, a sudden loyalty that was a bit baffling to Daniel, but he went with it, searching the database for names that meant terror, to be feared, or something along the lines.

Daniel let the 87-year-old consider his options for what he wanted his name to represent while listing out the various names that suited the 37-year-old's wishes. Eventually, he settled on Egil Terrorborne. Egil being Old Norse for awe and terror. It was a basic name in terms of meaning but not one that was going to be replicated immediately and one that was understandably _wraith _in a way.

The 87-year-old finally stated he wanted to honor his heritage while respecting human customs. Daniel shrugged and gave out a bunch of different names that had the meaning of various predators, but none seemed to satisfy the wraith. Finally, Daniel muttered out of spite, "Well, Hunter is an acceptable name if you want, even if it is a bit on the nose."

Of course, that was the name that the wraith decided suited his wishes best. He easily agreed that Wraithson was a suitable surname and Daniel felt exasperated over the dismissal of his efforts to help Hunter pick a unique name only to pick a name that he would be sharing with another person in the city, since an 9-year-old also had that name. Still, it was at least a task that was over with. He then turned his attentions to the other two unnamed wraith.

These two had thankfully been listening in to Daniel's attempts to aid the older two in finding names. As a result, they both knew the sentiment that they wished their names to convey. It was a mercifully simple process for finding the name that appealed to the two of them. The youngest settled in a Latin name, Sophus, and giving himself the last name Ravenwing, to remind himself to always be clever. The other chose Aries Bloodborne in recognition for his intent to be a warrior who fought the cause of his new home on Atlantis. Daniel smiled at them and couldn't help feeling he had done a good job.

Sure, over time, he suspected that the Wraith would begin adapting to including more names or find that Athosian or Satedan or some other culture that had more fitting names. However, for now, without the ability to communicate names the way that the Wraith and Sheppard did, they could at least give them names that fit into that same value of meaning some particular thing.

Katie sighed as she entered Richard's office, hoping that she could temp him into getting dinner. He wasn't there, but she supposed that she shouldn't be too surprised. Richard was a very important and busy man. One that she knew was in meetings most of the day performing negotations. The truth was she had always been drawn to his type. Most people didn't see the similarities between men like Rodney and Richard, but Katie saw it clear as day.

They were both men who were passionate about helping others in the best way they could, given their skills. Rodney was a brilliant scientist, probably the smartest man in two galaxies, and he threw himself whole heartedly into saving everyone he could with that science. Richard, while not a scientist, was brilliant in his own way. He was a strategist, a lawyer with a silver tongue, who could seek out the opposition's weaknesses and use them for his side's advantage with an unerring accuracy. This also made him a masterful negotiator and politician. He used this to fight for the betterment of all people and Katie couldn't help but admire that about him.

The second similarity was in that it took time to get to know the two men before a person saw the fullest extent of their true colors. Rodney hid behind his prickly manners, but he was utterly sweet and endearing if you managed to get past his thorns. Richard had hidden behind protocol and rules, however, underneath that was a bit of a rouge maverick type. He would fight fiercely, in his own way, to ensure that those he cared about were safe, even if it meant that he had to ignore the rules he felt were useless. He had proven himself more than up to the challenge when presented with the reality that Wraith were not as they seemed on the surface, fighting to give Todd the protections he deserved while on Earth from those that would have turned him into a science experiment if given the opportunity.

The third similarly was probably the most obvious, when people thought about it. Both of them needed a bit of managing. Someone to help smooth down the sharp edges that kept others at bay. Someone who knew when they were working too hard and hadn't gotten enough to eat or sleep.

More than anything, this was what drew Katie to these kinds of men. They needed someone to be the strength behind them, to bolster them, care for them, and keep them grounded so that they don't lose there way. Katie found it so easy to fall for the type of man who was so passionate about their work that they would be lost in it if someone wasn't there to pull them out and make sure their basic needs were cared for.

Katie had only realized in hindsight that as much as she had loved Rodney and wanted to be the strength supporting him, like a trellis supporting a hearty, healthy vine, helping it stay that way, she wasn't really needed. Rodney had Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon to keep him healthy and going. Those three knew Rodney far better than Katie had and if truth be told, so did Keller now. But Richard though, he had _thrived _with his relationship with Katie and it made her adore her boyfriend all the more for it.

So, she made a point of ensuring that he took little bits of time to relax, to unwind, and if the unwinding involved a nice dinner and sex afterward, well, all the more enjoyable for Katie too. There was nothing she liked more than being needed, and Richard needed her. Which was what had brought her to his office, to ensure that he got food and relaxed after a hard day of treaty negotiations with the Tok'ra and Jaffa.

She was less concerned about the Nox causing undue distress. There had been several who had already visited her botany labs and presented her with seedlings and seeds for the hydroponics labs to be cultivated. They assured her that the plants were excellent sources of nutrients and proteins, which they were sorely in need of, given the limited supple of animals that had been retrieved from Earth during the evacuation or before than or traded for since returning to Pegasus.

The Nox were friendly and only wanted to help and do their part while recognizing their nature as pacifists. Richard would have no issue helping them find a balance of maintaining their peaceful natures and finding good use for them. No, it was the Tok'ra and Jaffa who would prove more stressful, more demanding.

Thus, Katie plopped herself into Richard's chair, certain that when he was done with the meetings, he would return here, where she could promptly whisk him away to her quarters, though she hoped to persuade him to make it _their _quarters soon, where she had already prepped a nice, healthy, refreshing meal and set up things for a massage for Richard, to help with his tension. Whiles she waited, she scanned her eyes over Richard's normally immaculate desk and frowned at the paper file, an actual paper file which was unusual on Atlantis even before Earth's destruction, sitting haphazardly in the middle of the desk as if someone just tossed it there.

Katie made the snap decision to glance at it to determine how important it was. If it _was_ very important, she would place it neatly in the center of the desk and inform Richard of it when he entered. If not, than she would tuck it away just enough that it wouldn't immediately catch his eye, drawing him from the office quickly enough that he wouldn't notice it and let him deal with it in the morning. When she opened the file, it was immediately obvious why there was a hard copy file instead of just an electronic one. It was _the list _of those who were part of Cole's group. It was the list of _traitors._

Katie hesitated, as she looked at them. It was the names and their assigned numbers, meaning that it was likely the list that Woolsey needed to delete their names from the list of who were considered citizens of Atlantis. It _was _important, but not pressing. Still, Katie couldn't help her curiosity a little. After all, it wasn't like the attacks were any secret.

She wanted to know who had chosen to follow a cowardly man on a racist and homophobic agenda. A part of her wanted to memorize every name, look them up, memorize their faces, and ensure that if she ever encountered them off world, that she would know she was right to put a bullet straight between the eyes of those who would harm her home, and more importantly, her man. Because above all, they _had _hurt Richard.

Oh, they hadn't succeeded in killing him, but mostly because they hadn't known that Richard spent most nights in Katie's room these days. They would have killed him, and they had certainly caused him a high level of undue and awful stress. Never mind that they held evil and awful ideologies about race and sexuality, and she suspected gender as well.

So, she gave into the impulse. It wasn't as if she would ever be given the opportunity to deal with them anyway. Katie only went off world to worlds that needed help with increasing crop yields, revitalizing their fields, or to study local flora that have potential uses that would benefit Atlantis, like medicinal properties, like the Enchuri plant that was used to cure Kirsan Fever.

Still, she wanted to know who the traitors were. It was the principle of the thing. She didn't want to risk thinking of these people as friends when they were the enemy, even if she never saw them again. So, she read through the names, committing each name to memory as if it were a plant carrying deadly toxins that would kill on contact. She froze a quarter of the way down the list. That person, she actually knew. As did the next one. The two were a couple, Abby and James Stewart, that had owned a plant nursery on Earth and thus had been assigned to Katie to help in one of the hydroponics labs to get seeds to seedling stages before they were transported to the mainland for the farmers. They had been at an agricultural store when it's contents and people were beamed up to the Odyssey, sending the people on through the gate.

They had also been enthusiastic about Gen. Sheppard's marriage to Todd. They had asked Katie all she knew of the General, having read some of the summarized stories of Atlantis and the SGC that were provided by Dr. Jackson. They were fascinated by his heritage and have even almost zealously compared him to Jesus, especially after the whole hidden hologram from his mother had been revealed. Katie had assumed that the couple were supplanting their shattered belief in the Christian faith with one in the Ancients, as they _had _been devoted Christians before learning the truth that it had been the Ancients to create humans.

It made absolutely no sense that they would join Cole's group, as far as Katie could determine, unless they had been faking to gather information on Gen. Sheppard. Though, why they would do that, Katie didn't know, given that most of the General's history had been made public, sans some suspected Special Ops that no one was certain of, but a lot of the people from the original expedition claimed had to have existed.

Katie shook her head and continued and then gasped at the name of another person she knew only a little. She only recognized the name because the person was friends with the Stewarts. Jess Franklin had made regular visits to the Stewarts and Katie _knew _she had overheard them discussing with a great deal of excitement Todd Sheppard's pregnancy. She would have sworn these three were the last people she knew who would wish harm to John Sheppard or his mate and unborn child. The last name she recognized because she had known Dr. Simpson for years.

Simpson was another person that was completely illogical. Katie had been friendly with the woman, who _knew _that Katie's brother was married to a Lakota woman. In fact, they were two of the people on Katie's list, their three children were the others on her list. Simpson had even met and been perfectly friendly to Katie's sister-in-law, Willow. Furthermore, up until the General had bonded with Todd, Katie could have _sworn _that Simpson had been infatuated with Sheppard. Only a conversation after the fact told Katie that Simpson just had extraordinarily strong respect and a borderline hero worship of him. She had been, in point of fact, absolutely delighted for Sheppard's marriage, after Richard had informed people that it was some sort of Wraith soulmate thing.

_Katie _had been happy for Sheppard. He was a good man and deserved to be happy. The only thing that gave Katie pause was that she also knew that Simpson had absolutely _loathed _Sheppard's ex-wife. If Sheppard and Todd were an adorable couple to be admired, the ultimate relationship aspiration, Nancy Sheppard was the horrible woman who was a failure of a wife and mother. Of all the people who had been attacked, the only one that Katie could see Simpson wanting dead was Nancy Sheppard.

Katie just barely finished reading the list when Richard came in and frowned at seeing her reading the file. She didn't bother concealing what she had been doing. Honesty and trust were vital to a healthy relationship, "I was just checking to see if it was important or if I could hide it from you for the night to make you get some food and relaxation. I couldn't help but reading it when I realized it was the list of _traitors. _I hope we catch them and make them pay for what they did."

Richard's expression was of fond exasperation, "I suppose at least it wasn't anything you didn't already know about, but you really shouldn't be reading things on my desk, regardless of good intentions."

"I know. I just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself, Richard. That said, as much as it might add to your work, there's something odd I noticed about this list," Katie admitted. She didn't have any intention of keeping secrets from Richard. It was bad for the trust of a relationship as much as lying was.

"Oh, and what is that?" Richard asked, looking at the list of names himself.

Katie pointed out the people she had identified, "The Stewarts were assigned to my hydroponics labs and this Jess Franklin, she visited them quite a bit. I overheard more than a few conversations they had. They basically revered Gen. Sheppard. Abby even compared him to a more proactive Jesus to myself a few times while asking me questions about him since it's well known that I used to date Rodney and Rodney and the General are close friends. Also, Dr. Simpson doesn't make any sense either. She practically hero-worshiped Gen. Sheppard. She provided my orientation when I arrived on the second wave to Atlantis and one of the first stories that she told us was about how Gen. Sheppard handled the Genii invasion force that first year. At first, I thought she was infatuated with him, but when he married Todd, I realized she more viewed him as if he were some sort of superhero."

"Are you saying you don't think these four could be involved with Cole? Are you sure they weren't pretending just to get information from you? As you said, your prior connection to Sheppard through McKay is well known," Katie knew Richard wasn't rejecting the idea, just investigating, like any smart person would.

"While I'm not saying it's impossible, Dr. Simpson was extremely… devoted to Gen. Sheppard, or at least her idea of him, well before Cole's arrival on Atlantis and the formation of his group. There were even times when I was half convinced that she was implying he was secretly an Ancient that un-ascended to help us fight the Wraith," Katie explained a bit more.

"So, you think it's the opposite, that if she's with Cole's group, it's because she intends to help _Sheppard_? If that's the case, why wouldn't she warn someone about the attack on Todd or the intended attack on the top people in the chain of command?" Richard pressed.

"I'm not absolutely sure about the attack on Todd, though, she knows as well as anyone who's been on Atlantis for a while that the Wraith are very difficult to kill and are stronger than most humans, so she might have thought that he wouldn't have been in real danger, especially if she didn't know about the use of stunners. As for Sheppard, Simpson has… well this is a bit awkward, but she's always seemed to attribute an almost godlike quality to Sheppard. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought that such an attack wouldn't succeed on him on principle," Katie shrugged. "As for the others, it's possible that they were faking it, but their… fervor makes me thing that isn't the case."

Richard groaned softly, "So… if they aren't acting against us, or at least against Sheppard, what would their motives be for joining Cole's group?"

Katie shrugged, "I couldn't say. Maybe they wanted to sabotage them somehow?"

"Dr. Zelenka did manage to get the gate address of the world they gated to from here. He said it's the Jurassic World," Richard was clearly thinking out loud.

"You mean the one that everyone thinks the Ancients tried recreating dinosaurs and their plant life on? I liked that world, it has some spectacular flowers, when you aren't encountering the t-rex that seems to have its territory near the gate," Katie smiled a little. There had been some truly fascinating plants there that helped the Botany labs advance their understanding of the patterns of evolution of plants.

"Yes, and Simpson, as the one who, according to security feeds, dialed the address, would have been well aware of the t-rex," Richard confirmed. "Especially since she's the only one who has any experience going off-world regularly."

"Maybe she and her group intended on stranding Cole's group on that world. It would certainly be an efficient method of getting rid of them. I doubt any of them know the Pegasus gate addresses yet," Katie pointed out a little gleefully. She almost liked the idea of Cole and his band of traitors being eaten by the t-rex on the Jurassic World, even though it apparently more resembled the Cretaceous period in creatures.

"Why do you sound like you hope Cole gets eaten by a T-rex or velociraptor?" Richard switched gears at the tone of her voice.

"Because it's a fitting punishment for a man who would attack someone who is pregnant and attempting to do the right thing, both by his species and for his family and love," Katie promptly responded. "Also, the velociraptors aren't anywhere near the gate on that world. The paleontologists who explored that world said they were located on a completely different environment on a different continent."

Richard couldn't help smiling a little indulgently at the fact. Then his gaze shifted back to the file and he sighed, "I will keep what you are suggesting under advisement. If you circle the four who you think are… Sheppard enthusiasts… I will bring the information to Bates and have him look through the security logs to see if he can't track their movements a bit. I was going to have him track the whole lot of this group anyway, to see if we might have sleeper agents laying in wait to attack when are guard is down."

Katie smiled brightly at him and immediately grabbed a fountain pen from its holder and neatly circled the names before returning the pen. Then she firmly closed it, "Now, since I suspect that list was for you to retract their status as Lanteans, it can wait until morning. You have been in meetings _all day._ You need food, a nice message, and a lovely glass of wine to unwind." She hooked her arm through his to pull him along with her.

"You can't go snooping you know, there is some sensitive information I do have to attend to immediately on occasion," Richard responded mildly even as he let Katie draw him from his office and locked it behind him.

"And if it were important enough that you needed to deal with it immediately, I wouldn't interfere. However, it isn't, and your health is important too, sweetheart," Katie responded brightly again as she guided him to the transporter and immediately pressed the area for her room.

Richard opened his mouth to provide further half-hearted protest before his stomach growled and he snapped it shut, knowing well enough that his body was agreeing with Katie, even if his tendency towards being a workaholic made him protest. She smiled brightly and kissed him on the cheek as a reward for knowing when he was beat.

**AN: I haven't picked names for the other seven wraith children because they aren't directly connected to major characters or the plot. Yes, the baby that Arthur and Bran have has a name. It will be revealed in one of the future chapters. Though, that depends on when it becomes relevant the main plot, so patience please. **


	18. Chapter 18

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: And back to the main plot. Sorry for the detours of the last chapters, but they are generally relevant to the plot as a whole and necessary context for the up-coming chapters. This chapter is same day as the previous one.**

**ANN: Also, sorry for the delay in this chapter. Life got weird. I got sent to a different store, had to work different hours and ended up dead on my feet well before Thursday hit. However, Next week I'm on vacation, and hope to make it up to you guys by putting out a few extra chapters, hopefully. This one also got a bit long, because it wasn't long enough to split into two, but it was rather long even before it got the point.**

Chapter 18: And They Called Him Their Savior

John hated negotiations. There was a reason he mostly left them to Teyla when off-world. It also didn't help that for some bazaar reason, seeing John being assertive with allies seemed to make Todd horny, which in turn had the cascading effect of making John horny. Then again, a lot of things made Todd horny right now. Keller had said it wasn't uncommon among human pregnancies for a woman to become amorous at points due to the everchanging hormones and apparently that crossed over into Wraith Carriers too. Or maybe Todd was always this… aroused by John and the incredibly frequent sex that occurred was because the bond meant that one being turned-on quickly resulted in both being turn-on. Not that John would ever complain about the frequent sex. He _liked_ the frequent sex.

Still, it was incredibly difficult to focus on whether or not they would permit Rikki to modify the Tok'ra weapons' systems for their ships when he was half hard and Todd was more interested in sending him mental images of them in intimate positions than he was in the negotiations. Todd clearly had little interest in these negotiations, for all their importance to Atlantis going forward.

Anyone who thought that Todd was submissive in their relationship just because he was on the receiving end had no idea how _involved_ Todd got when they were in the bedroom. Yes, Todd would obey John if he gave him strict instructions, but John still wasn't entirely certain that that wasn't because those instructions were 99.9% of the time directly related to the safety and health of Todd and the Toddlets.

Still, he had managed to finagle a two-hour break for lunch on the second day, after the first's numerous interruptions, for John and Todd, officially to ensure that Todd was able to eat and rest a bit before they continued negotiations. Woolsey and the others would keep going, with Teyla there to keep them appraised of anything they missed. In actuality, it was so that Todd didn't decide he didn't particularly care about human social niceties like not being exhibitionist and jump John in the conference room mid-discussion, as the mental images that Todd had sent him had increasingly implied.

Once John had met his mate's sexual needs, and subsequently his own, Todd did eat and take a bit of a nap though, so it was worth it in John's book, if it got Todd to rest like he was supposed to. Once Todd was asleep, John went to hunt down Jinto and Wex in the infirmary. Keller had four of the older wraith hooked up to the vitals monitors as she carefully oversaw their transitions. John waved the teen boys over to come join him outside the room to talk in private.

Once they were in the next room over, John smiled at them, "Halling said you boys had something you wanted to talk to me about."

Jinto nodded eagerly, "You are aware that the Athosians have decided to join with the Lanteans, correct?"

"Yeah," John confirmed easily.

"Well, Kerran and Versan should be here to discuss this with you as well, but I guess we can present our hopes to you, and you can talk with them later. We want to join your military. More specifically, we want you to train us to be the best fighters Pegasus has ever seen. We know that there might be a lot of good Wraith out there, but with the bad ones, you'll need tactical infiltration teams to attack the worlds they reside on. The worlds like the ones that those poor young wraith you rescued are from. They need teams that can go in and take out the bad Wraith to rescue the kids and the Carriers that are being tortured and enslaved. There will also be worlds where the Wraith have landed or they have labs and those worlds need to be cleared out too," Jinto stood ram-rod straight as he spoke and John could tell that both boys were dead serious about their hopes of being allowed to be trained to do this.

He had had similar discussions too, with Jack and Landry, before Landry's death. They were still working out how the Lantean Military would be shaped and formed properly, but a specific special forces branch was definitely a topic of conversation. John sighed, "We didn't typically allow military service until a person was 18 on Earth. That said, we're also still working out what rules will be carried over from Earth's policies and what are going to change. If… and that is a strong if, if we agree to allow you to do this. It would fall under what we called special forces on Earth.

"It's… I was SpecOps for a while and what goes into it isn't pretty. You'll end up with a lot of lives, a lot of blood, on your hands and not all of it is going to be 'bad wraiths' as you put it. You will have to kill wraith worshippers. People who maybe aren't worshippers of their own choice but because they were brainwashed. If they get in the way of a mission, you can't help them. You will _have _to eliminate the threat. That isn't all. We also have to consider that eventually we will be facing off with the Naari and when we do, SpecOps will be running a lot of missions into extremely dangerous areas.

"It's extremely possible that you could die young and in unpleasant ways. And that's just how you might die. As for the training that goes into the job? I would insist on at least a full year's worth before even considering sending anyone into the field and it will be difficult and intense. I'm talking running 15 kilometers a day, every day. Intensive combat training not just supervised by myself and O'Neill but with the Jaffa, Ronon, Teyla, the Marines, and any wraith with combat training who isn't pregnant. I won't let anyone on a SpecOps team until I know that they could fight a Wraith in hand-to-hand combat and come out of the fight alive. You'll also be given training how to resist being tortured for information. That's not a pleasant experience. It has broken people.

"Do you understand? This won't be a game. You'll take lives, maybe even some that could have been saved in a different situation. You _won't_ walk away from the job without emotional trauma and while I will always make sure my people get the time they need with the therapists, I can guarantee you that you will likely have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before you hit twenty-five. This isn't something to take lightly.

"I want you to really think about what I just told you. You tell your friends exactly what I said. You will think about this for a full week and then and only then will you tell me if you still want to commit to something like that," John's tone was hard. He knew that SpecOps was important and they would need it. However, he also knew that if anyone had warned him when he was a young buck about the things he might have to do, the things he now has done, he may have chosen a different path.

He was at least giving these kids the opportunity to really consider it. He didn't want to push them completely away though. They would need to keep their military numbers up and that meant new recruits, "If you don't want to be SpecOps, than you can still join the military, once we decide what our recruiting policies will be, and fight the good fight. It just won't be quite as dirty or haunting as SpecOps, or as difficult in the training."

The boys nodded somberly. Wex's jaw had a stubborn tension to it, "We'll consider what you've said, but I don't think it will change our minds. We already knew that we would have to get our hands dirty of we did this. You didn't dismantle a Genii invasion on Atlantis without killing a lot of Genii. Teyla said that… that there were a lot of bodies that had to be cleaned up in the aftermath. Sometimes the hard thing to do is hard because it's the right thing necessary to make other people safer."

John sighed at the youthful stubbornness of the teens, "Just really, truly consider it. Talk it out amongst yourselves, weight all your options. Like I said, you don't need to be SpecOps to fight and make a difference. I need to go now. I need to go wake Todd and get back to the negotiations."

The teens nodded and returned to supporting their new friends in the infirmary. John shook his head and returned to his room to find Todd still napping. He felt a flood of affection for the sleeping Wraith and marveled a little at how utterly lucky he had gotten. He'd gotten that damned black mark in Afghanistan because he'd tried to save his friend's life and failed. So, they sent John to the ass end of the world, covered in ice, and made him a glorified chauffer to a secret research outpost until he either gave up and left the service or they could claim rank stagnation and kick him out.

Only, a rouge alien drone does something it shouldn't have, and now John was fairly certain that it might not have been Beckett's fault at all, given that the drone had, despite being much faster than the chopper, not destroyed them when in all rights it should have. They said hindsight was 20/20 and knowing how much his mother had already pulled the strings of so many other things, it wasn't beyond reason that one of his mother's group had made a play that guaranteed John would be thrown in the path of the Expedition not long before it left, likely in the most intentional manner possible.

From there on out, his life had been a rollercoaster for the past six years until he'd reached this point, staring at his mate, who, for all his rough edges from thousands of years spent fighting his own nature, had a level of compassion that John could see that a lot of humans lacked. Despite the destruction of Earth, he wasn't missing a single part of his family. He had his husband and Toddlets. He had Rikki and her band of misfit friends who John knew saw him as more of a parental figure than any of their own parents had been. He had his brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. Hell, even Nancy was still alive, though things would likely always be a bit awkward and tense between them.

John was just about as happy with his life as he had been just after Rikki was born, back when things with Nancy were good. Only, looking back, his relationship with Nancy paled in comparison to what he had with Todd. For all Todd's manipulations in the past, there was a level of trust and honesty that came from purely being unable to hide anything from each other. There wasn't going to ever be the massive blow up fights that had occurred with Nancy because if Todd had a problem, he would be blunt and share it with John long before it could reach the blown out of proportion stage.

It felt peculiar. John _should _still be dealing with the emotional aftermath of his homeworld being incinerated by the Naari, but the truth was that _he _hadn't lost much of anything. Earth had stopped being home to John long ago, back in the first year when they were still struggling to keep their heads above water in Pegasus. The only thing he left behind that he had wanted with him had been Rikki and with her present, John had basically decided there was little reason for him cling to his old home months ago.

He shook off the introspective thoughts though and smoothed his fingers over Todd's hair, seeking to ease Todd gently awake. Vala had made a point of catching them that morning after breakfast so that she could neaten up Todd's hair finally, after what had been done to it by Cole. It was now a shaggy length that framed Todd's face with layers to give it a bit of volume and John had to admit that Vala had done a good job of taking the damage to Todd's hair and making the hair cut look intentional. Just before he ran his fingers through Todd's hair a second time he paused as he noticed something about the roots, they were dark, far too dark to even be attributed to the idea that hair was naturally darker at the roots.

If that were the case, it would be a light grey for Todd's white hair. No, it was only the first few centimeters of hair, so John couldn't be entirely certain of the exact color, but they almost looked bluish or violet. As he leaned in to examine the hair more closely Todd's eyes opened, and he raised an eyebrow at John. John just shook his head, "Um… this is going to sound weird, but is your hair gaining _color?"_

Todd sat upright abruptly, his emotions were a mixture of curiosity and almost excitement. He swiftly got off the bed and went to the bathroom. John followed Todd there and watched as his mate examined his own roots before barking out a laugh of what was pure amusement. He then turned to John, "In my youth, before I began to feed, my hair was a darker blue. Carriers are almost always born with color to their hair. It is lost when we begin to mature and feeding on humans. I know this may sound strange, but I have always missed the color of my hair from when I was a youth. I enjoyed how well it complemented the coloring of my eyes." John watched as Todd tugged at the hairs of his goatee and nodded with satisfaction that that too had gained blue roots.

John couldn't help chuckle a little at that, "So, if we have a son who's a carrier, we might end up with a kid with blue hair? That… actually sounds _adorable_."

"Blue, violet, red, orange, yellow, black and very occasionally white are the colors that carrier youths are born with for their hair. Though, as my hair was a dark blue, and yours is black, those are the most likely colors," Todd clarified.

"Huh, though, if you think about it, the fact that the Toddlet will only be half Wraith, even if it's a sire, or a girl, they could still end up with colorful hair. I'm gonna hope for blue though, since that really would be adorable and a little hilarious," John smirked at the idea. "Kind of funny that Wraith can have all the colors of the rainbow for hair colors for the carriers. I've only seen black, red, and white for Queens."

"Those are the only colors that female wraith are born with," Todd clarified.

John nodded, "So, it will likely be black hair for a girl, since my hair is black and dark blue, or navy blue really, I'm guessing, isn't on the list, though it still is possible with the whole mixed-species thing going on."

"You are aware that we still have several months before our… Toddlet is born, correct? Why speculate on their appearance so soon?" Todd asked as he dressed, now awake and they really did need to rejoin the negotiations.

"Because it's fun? I had all sorts of ideas about what Rikki would look like before she was born. I mean, sure she looks like me for the most part in terms of facial structure and hair, but she's going to end up with her mother's build, if a bit better muscled from her physical training," John shrugged.

Todd sighed and John could feel the sense of amusement from Todd. That was another thing that set Todd apart from Nancy. Nancy had always seemed to find John's quirks annoying. Todd found them amusing, appealing, or occasionally a downright turn-on, depending on the quirk. John didn't allow himself to be distracted again though.

He encouraged Todd out the room and back to the conference room. John was fairly certain they hadn't missed anything of import since they appeared to still be on the same topic as earlier, with the Jaffa and Tok'ra debating who's ships should have enhanced weapons, hyperdrives, and wormhole drives installed first.

John settled into his seat next to Jack as Todd settled back between John and Teyla. Halling looked genuinely exasperated with the debate. After another half hour John decided to silence them both by pointing out that before Rikki could enhance their ships' systems, she would need to study them and work out how best to do so with the ship designs, if they were even prudent designs for combat situations in the first place.

After all, while the death gliders, Al'kesh, and Tel'tak might be shaped in a semi reasonable manner, the small death gliders the most reasonable and Al'kesh the least reasonable. The Ha'tak, for all that they were the largest ships and packed the biggest wallop in firepower, for Goa'uld designed ships, were also extremely cumbersome and poorly shaped for prolonged hyperspace travel.

Both the Tok'ra Jaffa reps looked surprised at John's understanding of aerodynamics, for all that he was military and not a 'scientist'. John merely smirked, "Todd and I wouldn't be compatible on an intellectual level if I weren't as smart as he was. He's just had a lot longer to learn things than I have, you know, given that he's over 10,000-years-old. I'm the son of a friggin' Ancient. I have PhDs in Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Astrophysics and got them all by age 18. I would have to be pretty damned blind to miss the fact that something pyramid shaped might be great for stability on the ground, but it's shit for the aerodynamics of flight, even when flying through space because there is resistance present even there, though it is significantly less than it is inside of a planet's atmosphere."

Councilors Per'sus and Garshaw straightened their backs at the information that John was far more intelligent than he had presented himself as previously. They glanced at O'Neill and raised a relevant question, "I believe that you, Gen. O'Neill are also the child of an Ancient. How much have you concealed from us?"

"Oh, me? No, my sister and I both seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to the genetically inherited intelligence. I'm only good with tactical planning and a slight capacity for learning new languages. Nancy is skilled with Linguistics but that's the extent of our brains. So no, I'm not a secret genius and our dad wasn't anywhere in the league of Sheppard's mother either. Though, to be fair, Dave Sheppard isn't nearly as intelligent as John is either, so maybe the whole brains thing is hit or miss," Jack responded with a dead-pan expression.

"Yeah, but Dave did get lightning powers," John countered.

Jack snorted at that, "Ancient interference is cheating and doesn't count, which means you forfeit your end of our bet on Rikki too."

"You can't prove that Rikki didn't earn it," John shot back. "We're still working out why I ended up getting it naturally though…"

"Wraith bonding help doesn't count either," Jack flat out growled that one.

Per'sus shared an exasperated look with Garshaw before turning to John and getting them back on topic, "If you are suggesting that the Ha'taks are obsolete, what do you recommend as a replacement? The Al'kesh are hardly large enough for numbers or fire-power."

John smirked, "My mother, as you have been made aware, built us ten ships, wonderfully nice, large ships. Now, we are working on getting them manned properly, though we are hoping that the Jaffa will take on some of the crew positions. That said, we also have the design schematics for those ships, the facility they were initially built in that will be empty once we move all the ships out after the finishing touches are done on them, and a veritable wealth of raw materials. All we need is to create another Asgard Core, plop it in the facility and then it will be a matter of you guys assembling all the parts into ships."

Per'sus and Garshaw both had their eyes literally light up with obvious excitement. Jack did raise his hand, "And of course, the work-space would have to be shared between the Jaffa and Tok'ra, since you'll both be needing the better ships anyway. As for the existing weapons systems on the death gliders, Al'kesh, and Tel'taks being updated and enhanced, once Rikki and Dr. McKay figure out the best method of increasing their firepower and how to integrate Ancient and Goa'uld systems for compatibility, which won't be easy, they can easily pass of the plans to your scientists for you to do the work on your ships. After all, we can't be expected to do all the work for you and Rikki and Dr. McKay have other vital projects that they need to work on."

The two groups fell quiet at the reminder that it was ridiculous to expect the humans to do everything for them. From there, the discussions moved on to the topic of food supplies. John leant back, letting Woolsey, Teyla, and Halling take over on that topic since John knew next to nothing about agriculture or trade. They left off the negotiations with only a half hour to spare before the mess halls closed. John was quick in guiding Todd to get food. They then checked on the winding down transitions of the newly arrived wraith, who all had names now thanks to Dr. Jackson.

Finally, John go them back to their rooms for relaxation and another round or three of sex because apparently John putting the Tok'ra and Jaffa in their place about their ships was something that Todd found sexy as hell. It was honestly a good thing that he wasn't required for the later topics being discussed since Todd was virtually flooding John with dirty, dirty thoughts.

The next morning, John was informed by Woolsey about Katie's disturbing revelation that at least four of the people who had left with Cole's group could be fanatical John Sheppard Worshippers, something that somehow managed to surpass John's shudder factor meter past where even Wraith Worshippers had topped out on the charts. Wraith Worshippers were at least, for the most part, brainwashed, and therefore not completely responsible for their actions. Fanatical John Worshippers were something entirely different because these were people who actively _chose _to worship him, and John was not exactly his idea of someone who _should _be worshipped.

In fact, the only worshipping that John wanted directed towards him was the kind that occurred in a reciprocal manner with his husband during and only during sexy times. He didn't really want there to be a blossoming cult group to deal with on top of the white, human, supremist group that had already formed. So, he had approved Woolsey's idea of sending a MALP through the gate to the Jurassic World and crossed his fingers that the only thing they would see would maybe be some boot tracks to the DHD and maybe the T-Rex moseying on by near the gate if it got curious.

The one thing he didn't want to see most of all was the one sight they saw when the MALP started sending telemetry back. John groaned and thumped his head against the table next to the Control Room's DHD. The video was of the T-rex alright, but he was munching on what amounted to a pile of corpses and likely had been for the past couple of days, given the numbers left. There was also the distinct damage on the bodies that the MALP got shots of that showed evidence of blaster fire from the new weapons Rikki had designed.

Jack managed to keep his expression carefully blank, but Woolsey's face was positively green. John sighed as he de-activated the MALP. They could retrieve it in a few days, when the T-Rex was done with the dead. There was no point in attempting to fight off the T-Rex to retrieve the bodies of traitors, after all. John looked at Woolsey, "I want Simpson and those other three's movements from the entire time since Earth was destroyed tracked. Simpson's, I want tracked for the past six months. If there is a… what? A cult that worships me? That's just as dangerous as a White Supremist Group, if not more so."

Woolsey nodded in agreement, "I already gave the names to Bates. Hopefully, he can find those who are potentially further connected to the… Sheppard Cult."

John cringed at the idea, "Yeah, good. Lorne, I want those four investigated thoroughly. Anyone they talked to regularly needs to be questioned. Katie obviously knew about Simpson and the others obsession with me. I want to know who else knew and who else shares this obsession." He directed his order to the person he trusted to have his back in this matter most.

Lorne nodded, "Of course, sir. I'll hand select the men who will do the interrogations."

"Good. Damn. I really wish I knew how long this thing has been going on. You say Katie told you that Simpson has been obsessed for years, but does that mean she's been part of a cult for a while now, maybe even its origin, or is this something new popping up thanks to my mother's little time capsule message? If it's the later, that means it might not go too deep yet, but if it's the former…" John shuddered at the idea.

The sad part was that his day had started out with a fantastic wake-up blowjob from Todd, and then a nice run with Ronon who told him that he would arrange for a squad of Marines to move their things over to the new three bedroom suite that Ronon had scouted out for John and Todd and future babies. By that evening, they would be moved into a much nicer apartment style set of rooms where they could eventually set up a nursery for the Toddlet.

The downhill had been a very steep slope and delayed the continuation of negotiations. Not that John was devastated by that part, but it was something they really did need to finish up on. Bates winced at John's question and turned to John at that, "Sir… um… I hate to break it to you… but I think it's been building up since… well since the first year… sir."

While Bates was no longer Military, or at least he hadn't been before Earth's destruction, he had still agreed to retake handling Atlantis's security since his return, which John appreciated. John like Bates, now that he had gotten over his excessive dislike for anyone who had a single wraith DNA strand. He had even given Todd and John congratulations on their marriage.

That said, Bates was the last person John would have thought would have intel on how long the possible cult thing was in play, "What makes you say that?" John forced his tone to be neutral.

"Well… I… I am aware that I caused you a bit of hassle that first year. After… after the Genii invasion during the mega storm… I started receiving some rather open hostility from numerous members of the science departments and a few Marines. Lt. Ford was among that group, though I'm not entirely certain if his hostility was related to his hero-worship of you, sir, or his general friendship with Teyla," Bates looked distinctly uncomfortable with the revelation.

"Do you recall the names of these scientists and Marines?" John couldn't help asking. He wasn't going to touch on Ford's supposed hero-worship. While John still held a lingering hope of finding the Lieutenant, it had been years and those years had likely changed Ford as much as they changed John.

Bates nodded with another grimace, "Some of them were still hostile towards me with my return, sir. Simpson had definitely been a ringleader then and she was definitely still hostile towards me on my return."

"That isn't something I really wanted to hear, but at least it gives us a bit of a timeline to work with," John huffed and rubbed at his temples. "Right, well, Bates, give Lorne the list of those who are hostile towards you. If they hate you, they aren't likely to talk to you. They might be willing to talk to the grandson of an Ancient though."

Lorne looked like he had sucked on a lemon at that reminder. John could feel a little bit of sympathy for the man, as, as it turned out Lorne's maternal grandmother was John's mother's younger sister. John hadn't really discussed it with the man, given the oddity of the situation, but Lorne's mother was technically John's first cousin. They had gotten Beckett to keep that awkward little detail quiet. Lorne's grandmother had mysteriously 'vanished' just after Lorne was born, so John figured that she would have considered it a 'mission accomplished' and had ascended again.

Still, it made Lorne a good option for talking with cult members because of their lingering physical similarities and the fact that Lorne's Ancient DNA made him more 'special'. Thankfully, Lorne didn't disagree or argue. With that settled, John found himself reluctantly going to deal with the negotiations once more. Fortunately, his input wasn't really necessary, for that day or the next. It was more a show of solidarity that had him present while Todd, Woolsey, the Tok'ra, Jaffa, and Nox debated what technologies they would be willing to share, or adapt for various systems, if possible, but mostly it was theoretical. Now, it finally made sense that Todd was present for the meetings.

There was a bit of a huff from O'Neill about the Tok'ra wanting to put up a request for volunteers for hosts. Apparently, to everyone's surprise, Garshaw was a queen. As such, she could produce young Tok'ra symbiotes, but she wasn't willing to attempt it until they were certain that they had appropriate viable hosts for the youths, once they had matured.

There was a tentative compromise that humans over the age of thirty could volunteer as hosts, provided they were fully aware of the entirety of what that entailed. John suspected that the Tok'ra wouldn't be pleased with the lack of numbers for volunteers. He also suspected that most of the volunteers would be those that had some sort of chronic condition that the Tok'ra would be able to repair and thus make it more win-win for them to accept the situation of being hosts.

By the end of the fourth day after the other groups had arrived, John was glad when Woolsey presented a base treaty of alliance between them all. It covered what would and wouldn't be allowed in terms of technology and hosting and the like. For example, the Jaffa had made it bluntly clear that they would not carry the Tok'ra larva, while the Tok'ra didn't want them to. Instead, a small tank would be created for Garshaw's young to develop in, but with the understanding that no human would be implanted without a through vetting process and confirmation that they knew it was a time-share situation. While the Tok'ra young would have Garshaw's morality from their genetic memory, the blending process meant that someone with loose morals could in turn result in a Tok'ra going bad.

With the negotiations done, John thought he could relax a little, only for Woolsey to present him with a problem of a completely different sort. The plan to starve the Wraith into submission required that they covered every world with humans on them. There were only a few worlds left, most were those who had not joined the Coalition. One was M7G-677, or the world with all the kids. That world wasn't a problem though. They regularly traded with them and Keras and the other elders would likely be thrilled to have a long-term replacement plan for them that left them less vulnerable and allowed them to advance technologically.

No, the problem would be the Daganians. They had made it clear that the Lanteans were less than welcome on Dagan and had a ZPM. That meant that they would potentially resist the installation of the shield, and if the Wraith came for them, there was a slim chance that the Daganian Brotherhood may not have succeeded in hiding the ZPM again and thus, it would give the Wraith a distinct advantage, though their newer ships would be able to handle them.

Woolsey pointed out that as John and Rodney were among those who made first contact, they were the best option to try approaching the Daganians. John wasn't certain that they wouldn't be shot, but reluctantly agreed. Worst case scenario, Rikki had to heal John or Rodney from a potentially lethal injury. Best case scenario, the Daganians realized the benefits of the shield generator being offered, as well as the ZPM that would power it. That was if they hadn't just decided to outright relocate to another world. If that was the case, they had no option but to look to the Genii to contact them, due to prior relations, and John wasn't certain he wanted to give the Genii that kind of leverage over their plans.

Ladon had kicked up a fuss when he learnt that they weren't planning on killing all the Wraith outright. Still, John requested that Teyla, Rodney, and Ronon gear up as well as Lorne's team. This would be the first time since Earth's destruction that John was going off-world into a potentially hostile situation. There was a bit of debate, but John didn't see the point in using the Jumper for the first trip, despite Rodney's protests of annoyance. If they got the green light for the shield generator, than they could bring it on a Jumper later, along with the scientists needed for the set up.

John kept his back ramrod straight as the gate dialed and the wormhole engaged. He let Ronon take the lead through the gate, as much as it made him itch. He knew that everyone had started seeing him as indispensable, which made John all kinds of uncomfortable. At the same time, however, he knew that while Keller thought she had 'something' that might help Todd if John died, John wasn't about to jump in the path of any bullets unnecessarily. Not with his husband's sanity hanging in the balance.

John was tense as he reached the other side of the wormhole, uncertain as to the welcome they would receive. As the rest of the people came through the gate, John scanned the area just as Ronon was. Ronon finally nodded, indicating that he didn't see anything to imply recent activity around the gate. John sighed and let Teyla and Ronon take point. Teyla because she knew the path and both she and Ronon were the best trackers they had.

If there was an ambush anywhere along the path to the Dagan village, Teyla and Ronon had the best chance of picking up on it. They trudged for the next half hour before reaching the outskirts of the village. As soon as they spotted someone, that person spotted them and after going wide eyed for a minute, immediately dropped their gardening rake and booked it toward the temple building for the Brotherhood.

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," John commented. "Keep on your guard. If our welcome is less than warm, I don't want us to get shot unnecessarily."

"Well, the person didn't run shrieking bloody murder, so that's something," Lorne pointed out.

"No, but the Brotherhood had more tact than that last time too," John shrugged. "Hopefully, they'll be in a listening mood. Just no one mention my mother or her prophecy. Best case scenario with that is they call us liars and tell us to get lost."

"What's the worst-case scenario?" Ronon apparently couldn't resist asking.

"I believe that would be them joining Dr. Simpson's John Sheppard Cult," Teyla answered for John.

John winced. Personally, he really would prefer getting shot in his ass and being held for a few days until Woolsey sent someone to rescue them than he wanted Simpson's little group growing in size. So far, Bate and Lorne had managed to identify six more people who had gone with Cole's group, undoubtedly, to assist in killing them all, that were fanatically 'Sheppard enthusiasts'.

They had another 47 suspected members of that group still on Atlantis, but they couldn't confirm it beyond the knowledge of general hostility towards the likes of Bates and Nancy, because apparently his ex-wife was Satan in the group's eyes, tracked frequent interactions between the 'known' members with the suspected, and hearsay from those around them. Technically, as long as these people didn't break any established rules, there wasn't much that could be done about them. It still gave John the willies to know there was any number of people worshipping him though.

The type of reception they would receive from the Daganian Brotherhood was soon answered though, and John rather wished they had gone the torch and pitch-fork route. Allina and Sanir were wearing bright smiles at the head of a group of the researchers that John vaguely recognized from their first trip to Dagan.

"Teyla, Ronon," John's voice was tense, but both of them fell back to flank him, like John knew they would.

Allina and Sanir both gave immediate, deep bows to John, followed by the rest of their group. Allina immediately began speaking, "We have been long anticipating your return. We humbly beg your forgiveness. We did not know that you were a child of one of the Ancestors, Major Sheppard. If we had known that was who you were and that the Potentia was intended for you, we would have, of course handed it over to you as we should have."

John felt his spine go ridged, "Who told you I was the child of an Ancestor?"

"One of the Ancestors who had ascended appeared before us just days after… after our error. She told us of our mistake and folly. She said that because we had failed our test, we had placed you at risk unnecessarily. She instructed us to go back to where we found the Potentia and to examine the walls. When we did so, we found compartments containing a great many stone tablets. Please, come, we will show you," Allina bowed to him again and then gestured for them to follow her.

John frowned, but shrugged and signaled to his people to follow, "I see. Have you been able to translate these tablets?" He asked, his tone as neutral as possible as he fell in beside her. Ronon and Teyla were directly behind them. His gut groaned about there already being a _second _cult over him and that would be worse than them joining with Simpson's group.

"Only a few. Some of them were in Ancient, and we were able to translate them thanks to our prior work with the assistance we had from Dr. McKay in learning to read the Ancestors' language. The others were in a strange language we have never seen before. The tablets in the tongue of the Ancestors say that only the Son of Ata and some of those who traveled with him would be able to translate the others," Allina explained.

"Really, now. Well that's… interesting," He shared a look with Rodney. If John were a betting man, he would wager that the text was in Vulcan. With no source of a reference point it would be indecipherable to even the cleverest Wraith, but any die-hard Trekkie would likely be able to translate it in a minute. "What else did the texts you were able to read say."

Allina frowned a little, "They said that our people were to be tested twice. That though we were likely to fail the first test, to fail the second could be catastrophic for our people. We would not know the test until it presented itself, though you were likely to know what it would be long ago."

John tucked his hands behind his back to signal to his people what he suspected it would by tapping the ring finger on his left hand, one that didn't actually have a ring on it due to the unorthodox nature of how he married. The Dagan's would have no idea what it meant, but those from Atlantis would understand that he was hinting at Todd. It was definitely something that would cause tension, especially given the lack of trust built up over the years.

John smiled tightly at Allina, "Well, I'm fairly certain I know exactly what the Ancestors intend to be the second test. I can't say I'm particularly pleased that they would choose _that _as a means to test you, but I'm certain that as long as you and your people keep an open and flexible mindedness going forward, while you may struggle with accepting it, you will be able to pass it in time."

"I had a hard time of it too. It's not exactly something that's easy to accept until you learn more truths than you are aware existed," Ronon added.

"You were tested as well?" Allina asked, glancing back at Ronon with curiosity.

"Well, I didn't really think of it as a test at the time or even now. Back then, it was more of a trial. It was a long and difficult but necessary lesson that I needed desperately to learn. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have one of my sons," Ronon supplied without really getting into too much detail. John knew that Ronon would feel that if the Ancients wanted to test the Daganians, well that meant they probably needed to learn the same lesson and it was one that had to be learnt first-hand.

"I see, so, you are not Lantean, then?" Allina asked, clearly probing for information.

"I am now, but I was born on Sateda. Then I was a Runner for a while until Sheppard found me. The Lanteans enabled me to stop running and make a real life for myself on Atlantis," Ronon's admission had John a bit surprised. He had never volunteered so much information towards others in the past, especially strangers.

Allina led them through the open doors of the temple and into one of the research rooms, "Yes, I can imagine that the Children of the Ancestors are quite benevolent to those who are worthy of earning their trust. What happened to Sateda was a tragedy. Being a Runner must have been a difficult life, but I'm sure you must feel blessed now, for your home."

"Yeah, well, we have people who have taken Ronon's account, along with those of some other Satedans of Sateda's history. Sateda's tragedy is one that won't be forgotten," John responded before redirecting to prevent her from attempting to probe further into Ronon's life. "So, you said you had untranslatable tablets."

"Yes, right over here. We've kept them secure, as we didn't know how to translate them and didn't want to risk damaging them with carelessness, though they do appear to be quite…sturdy," Allina responded as she pushed a tapestry out of the way and using a series of slides and switches, that John suspected needed to be done in a specific order, unlocked a vault of sorts.

She pulled out the tablets one by one and carefully began laying them out. Rodney joined John and they looked at them. John smirked and shook his head. His mother was clever, that was certain. Athos had the texts in Vulcan, so of course these would be in Klingon, to prevent the Wraith from having multiple sources to cross reference improving the chances of determining the language and translating it.

"It's Klingon. Of course, your mother would use that," Rodney grumbled.

"Hey, at least it's something I know how to read second nature," John pointed out.

"Of course, it is. You're mother probably made sure you knew the language," Rodney retorted.

"Oh, please, you're a Trekkie too. You can read it as easily as I can. Also, mom actually died before Next Gen came out. She just made sure I was a Trekkie long before that," John rolled his eyes before turning to Allina. "Would you mind if we took photos of these to translate later. You can keep the originals. They actually weren't what we came here about."

"Oh, of course, they were intended for you. It would be unpardonable to fail to allow you to examine them in whatever form you wished," Sanir finally spoke up. "We have also already sent someone to retrieve the Potentia from its place of protection. It rightfully belongs to you and we will endeavor to make amends for our past mistakes and transgressions."

John could tell that she was embarrassed. That wasn't entirely surprising given that she had been the one to betray them to the Genii the last time they were on Dagan. He just smiled and nodded while Rodney got out his camera and took photos as each slate was taken out and laid down, not on table, John noted, but on a cloth on the ground. John eyed the material of the slates, noting they were rather thin. He turned to Allina, "Do you happen to know what kind of material these slates are made of?"

She shook her head, "Not exactly, our scientists believe they are made from the same material as the Ring of the Ancestors. They are extremely heavy, though not particularly fragile. Any given person can carry one maybe two at most, though most would struggle attempting to carry two." With that she and Sanir set down the next two tablets.

"There appears to be quite a few of them. And they are in conveniently good condition, for once," Rodney observed as the last few tablets were laid out.

Sanir nodded, "It was a painstaking process removing them from the vault that held the Potentia. Only four tablets at most could be lifted at a time without our ropes failing and we required multiple people pulling on the rope to bring them up. We believe that the vault has been there far longer than we originally thought. Allina believes it is possible that the Ancestors themselves set it up and that the test was so that none other than the Child of an Ancestor would be able to pass it." She gave a small bow to John at that point and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Right, well, we did have another reason for coming," John decided to divert the topic, though he knew he was being completely unsubtle. "We've been installing shield generators on all the worlds with populations on them. Our hope is to prevent the Cullings through the generator as it possesses the capacity to sense when Wraith ships come in close proximity to the planet. We'll also set up a shield _on _the Stargate so that if any darts come through, they will only make it partially through before being basically sliced in half by the shield. From there, it will send a signal to Atlantis and we'll be able to send ships quickly to… handle the hives for you."

Allina and Sanir shared a look of awe before bowing deeply to John, it was Allina who spoke, he voice emitting almost worshipful tones making John cringe, "Your benevolence is humbling. Even after we failed in our first test, that you would gift us with such… merciful protection…"

"We are truly without words to express our gratitude to you," Sanir finished, her voice nearly breathless.

"Yeah, well, to be fair, it wasn't my idea, but rather my husband, Todd's. He's also the one who designed and created the shields and sensors, so it's more him you should thank, not me," John shifted uncomfortably. Still, if he implanted the idea of the _good _that Todd had done with his designs and suggestions, it was likely to soften their attitude towards him when they finally met him.

"Oh, of course, a Child of the Ancestors would undoubtedly choose a gifted and intelligent partner in life to gift his affections to," Allina agreed readily.

"Excellent. Well, since we have your approval for the plan, we'll head back to Atlantis and get our scientists set up to bring all the equipment and gear through to set up the generator and gate shield systems. They'll be back no later than tomorrow, with everything," John plastered on a fake 'I'm pleased with your response smile'.

"And your husband will be among them, so that we can thank him in person for such a generous idea for all the worlds of Pegasus?" Allina asked, clearly hopeful.

Teyla responded when John's smile immediately dropped, "That is unfortunately not possible. Todd Sheppard has a… medical condition that means it would be highly ill advised for him to leave Atlantis for the next several months. The condition has only just recently placed his life at great risk. I'm sure you will understand Gen. Sheppard's refusal to allow his husband's wellbeing to be placed at any further risk."

"Yes, of course. I apologize if we caused any discomfort. It is only natural that Gen. Sheppard would wish to take great care of his husband's wellbeing. I am surprised that Atlantis does not have the capabilities to heal this condition for several months, though," Allina spoke with gentle reassurance and no little curiousity.

"It isn't a condition that requires healing, only patience and a great deal of rest and food. It also leaves him particularly vulnerable for the duration of the condition," Teyla hedged. "The only reason his life was at risk was… from others causing him physical harm though they have been dealt with."

It was fortunate that the Daganians had no idea about the idea of some Wraith males being capable of being pregnant or the idea of male pregnancy in the slightest or they might have made the connection between what was clearly being described as a pregnancy and the fact that John's husband was his husband and not wife.

"I see, well, if he cannot come here, perhaps we could go to him? If there is no objection. I assure you that we will not do anything to cause him harm. Perhaps we could gift him with the crystals that we found with the tablets? We aren't certain as to their purpose, but I am sure that is an appropriate gift for someone with such a benevolent and brilliant mind," Allina seemed eager to please.

John's back was stiff as a board and Teyla asked for a moment to speak with John in private before they gave their answer. John just wanted to say hell no. They could give the Daganians the shields, but they were also fanatics, which made them potentially, extremely dangerous. He didn't want them anywhere near his husband, supposed test for them or not.

Teyla eyed him firmly, "If the Daganians are to be our allies, we need to be honest with them. On Atlantis, their interactions with Todd and the other Wraith can be controlled. We can ensure that no harm comes to them. However, we cannot hide the truth of Todd's pregnancy or that we are converting Wraith with the retrovirus indefinitely. As it is, Woolsey has already informed the Coalition council members. It is likely the Daganians only do not know of this due to their refusal to join the Coalition. If we do not hide it now, it will be presented more as if there is nothing to hide. If we delay, they will be suspicious, especially when the truth is revealed, and we already know that the Genii have regular contact with the Daganians. It is wiser to bring a few to Atlantis now, so that we can ease them into the idea without the Genii being given the opportunity of polluting their minds."

"They can easily do that after the fact as well," John sniped back.

"We cannot hide what we are doing, John. Not if we wish to have Pegasus as a united, strong front against the Naari. The sooner it is revealed, and revealed as a success, the sooner that the people of Pegasus can come to terms with the idea of the Wraith being willing to change their ways if provided with the opportunity. That is why Woolsey has already informed the Coalition of our intentions with the retrovirus," Teyla's voice was hard. "If need be, I will reveal that some of my people are Wraithkin, to help ease them on their concerns."

John wanted to argue against her, but he knew that she had a valid point. He could also sense, faintly over the bond at this distance, that Todd could tell he was uneasy, and it was making him uneasy as well. John sighed, "Fine, but only two of them, and they aren't allowed weapons."

"I know this will be difficult, but you must trust that those of us who are there will ensure that Todd remains safe, as will all the other Wraithkin," Teyla kept her tone low and reassuring.

John nodded reluctantly and they returned to the group. Teyla made the announcement of the decision, "We will allow _two _of you to go back with us to Atlantis. _However,_ you cannot bring any weapons with you. We have several different species of peoples both on Atlantis and on the planet. We would rather avoid any accidents from occurring simply because you fear the appearance of one of the people of Lantea. You will also certainly be facing the test that was mentioned before, if you go now."

Allina and Sanir looked delighted. They didn't seem to really care about the prohibition of the weapons. Instead, they went back to the vault, opened a section, and brought out what looked suspiciously like the crystals that were used for city systems. Clearly, John's mother had left more of her trail of breadcrumbs here than just some Naquadah composite tablets in Klingon. Of course, if John had denied them entry onto Atlantis, it was possible they wouldn't have gotten the crystals, meaning that it might have been a hint from his mother, long ago, to give the Daganians a second chance.

Once the women were finished collecting the crystals, stashing them in their bags, they returning the tablets to the vault and finally sealing it, they then turned to the group of Lanteans and smiled, "We will prove worthy of your benevolence. If an open mind and flexibility are what is necessary to pass this test, than that is what we shall endeavor to maintain."

John nodded, though he kept silent for a while as they headed for the gate, letting the two Daganians talk with Ronon and Teyla a bit. They were a few clicks from it before he finally spoke, having given considerable thought to what warning he could give before they went to Atlantis, without directly informing them that Todd was a Wraith. He didn't want to set them up for failure, but if his mother and whoever was acting as a messenger thought that the Daganians needed to be tested, than he couldn't exactly tell them the answers in advance either.

"So, I just feel that you should be warned of something before we head through to Atlantis before we go through the gate. As Teyla mentioned before, there is more than one species of peoples on Atlantis. There are, in fact, four other species, besides humans. One of the species is purely peaceful. In fact, it goes against their ingrained nature to cause others physical or emotional harm and they are natural healers. The other three… Of them, one isn't even humanoid, they are actually symbiotes that live within human hosts and can only communicate with us using their hosts' bodies.

"There is a balance and tradeoff for it. In return for the human allowing the symbiote to share control of the body part of the time, they gain a longer lifespan, experience greater health, and their bodies heal at a faster rate. The third species is actually a sub-species of humans, though they are physically stronger, and more of a warrior-type species. They are actually genetically compatible with us and I suspect there will be a lot of… genetic mingling in the future," John paused as he glanced at Allina and Sanir to see that they were listening with curiousity, rather than concern for now.

He continued, "The forth… there are only a few of, and most of those present are actually children. My husband, Todd is from this species. They… they're genetically compatible with humans as well, meaning that we can have children with them, if we wish. Though, technically, in terms of appearances, they look less like us than the others, the symbiotes not being included, as they are rarely if ever seen outside of their hosts. The thing about their species is that… well they've had a long history of violence. Some of them, those that live with us, have made the _choice_ to receive our assistances in becoming far less violent. The majority of these are children, as they haven't had that way of life ingrained in their lives as much yet. My husband is among the eldest of their species with us, however, and he had long been looking for a means to escape the violent cycle they are forced into.

"Anyway, due to their violent nature, the majority of their females don't make it to physical maturity, so they have a genetic adaptation that allows some males to… carry the babies as well. My husband is among those males capable of doing so. He is currently pregnant, that's his medical _condition._ As Teyla said, it's not something that needs curing. Just time," John finished, keeping a close watch on the faces of their companions.

The two women remained quiet for a few moments before Sanir spoke, "I can understand why you would not wish to risk your husband's safety, if he is carrying your child. Is this process artificially created or…"

"It's perfectly natural. It just requires a specific type of relationship to form. Probably the truest form of marriages possible. My husband and I share a telepathic bond. This is, in part, what allows him to safely carry the child, though our doctors are still studying the science behind it. It's a bit complex, but the development has progressed in a completely natural manner for his species," John smiled a bit at that. "Honestly, I'm excited. I have a daughter from a previous relationship, her mother is also the child of an Ancient, but that was the only other child I've had. This will be her first sibling, and I'm thrilled to be having more kids."

Allina nodded, "It must be a blessing to you to be having another child then."

"It is, and I'm looking forward to all the exciting bits of having another kid. This will be Todd's first child, so he's excited, if a bit nervous as well," John knew his affection for Todd was showing on his face.

"Any new parent would be a bit nervous. I know I was while carrying Torren," Teyla admitted.

"I just adopted Liam and Cooria, so I can't say I experienced all that new parent stuff, but I am a bit worried I'm going to screw up at some point, especially with Cooria," Ronon admitted.

John snorted. He had seen Ronon with Liam and Cooria over the past few days, "The only thing you're at risk of doing is spoiling them with too much attention. To be fair though, the both of them probably need a bit of extra affection, so I'd say your safe. Just don't let them become too co-dependent on you. They need to learn a bit of independence and their own personality as well."

"You mean like Rikki?" Ronon asked.

Rodney was the one to snort, "Please, Rikki is not a normal kid in terms of being independent. She probably would feel smothered if Sheppard or his ex-wife tried to treat her like you do your boys."

"Uh, yeah, gonna be honest, Rikki used to hang all over me, just like Cooria and Liam do with Ronon. That's normal little kid behavior. Rikki is actually pretty normal in her sense of independence too. Yeah, she's got a brain bigger than a red-giant, but most 13-year-olds prefer to spend a lot of time with friends. It's just that her friends are a bit older than her and she's a bit more mature about it all, Rodney," John retorted.

He didn't mention that Rikki had had a nightmare the night before and ended up crawling into bed with John and Todd, for all that she was a teenager. Yeah, she was a little older than most kids when the stopped doing that, but John wasn't going to deny his daughter the sense of security that came from knowing her father would keep her safe. Especially just after suffering from a recent trauma likes someone breaking into her room in an attempt to kill her and the loss of her entire planet. Thankfully, he and Todd had been wearing boxers, so it wasn't entirely awkward.

"Anyway, I just wanted to warn you about the other species that live on Atlantis and off, that some of them are possibly going to freak you out a bit. The hosts ones with symbiotes will occasionally have their eyes glow gold, the Nox, those are the peaceful ones, look like they got plants growing off of them, though they aren't really scary. Some others have tattoos on their foreheads and are massive, muscle bound men and women. Try not to be too intimidated," John intentionally left out the Wraithkin. He didn't want them to freak before they even got to Atlantis.

Rodney immediately began dialing the gate. Once it engaged, John immediately commed Woolsey, "Woolsey, I just wanted to let you know that the Daganians requested permission to bring a gift to Todd personally to thank him for his generous suggestion over using Shield Generators to protect everyone from Wraith hives. We've agreed to allow Master Handler Allina and Assistant Handler Sanir permission to come for this presentation, if it's all right with you."

"_Is that wise? Do they know Todd is a Wraith?"_ Woolsey asked, his voice laden with concern.

"It's better that they meet him now rather than later. At least this way, things will be our terms," John pointed out.

"_Very well. I will inform Todd that he has visitors,_" Woolsey sounded anything but pleased.

John didn't expect him to be otherwise. He suppressed the sigh he wanted to release as they walked through the event horizon and back to Atlantis. Though it wasn't the first time since establishing the bond between him and Todd that John had gone through the gate, he still relaxed when he could feel it far strong than it had been thousands of light-years away on Dagan. What had been faint echoes were now strong, firm emotions.

John had spent enough time bonded to Todd now that the other's emotions were, unless being intentionally directed at him, like secondary sensations hovering in the back of his mind, but not constantly distracting him. The distance obviously dampened that sense and it now felt wrong to not have that awareness of Todd there, just as if felt foreign to not feel the slight edge of the neural interface of Atlantis just barely brushing against his mind. The city wasn't sentient per-say, rather the systems were constantly taking note of those in the city with the ATA gene. There was no information exchanged that John knew of, just the presence of the city systems being _there. _

John paused before leading the two guests to the conference room for their meeting with Todd. Hopefully, the table being between them would prevent immediate panic and attack, or enough time to prevent harm to Todd if the two women did immediately panic. John watched as Woolsey entered the conference room just behind him and the two Daganians.

He was frowning, but he still greeted them with his polite formality, "Welcome to Atlantis, Master Handler Allina, Assistant Handler Sanir. I must admit to some surprise of your willingness to come here, given the last time Atlantis had contact with your world we were left with the impression that you were less than willing to enter into an alliance with us."

Allina bowed neatly, though not nearly as low as she and Sanir had to John, "We have since learnt a great many things. The first and more primary being that we learnt the grave error we made when we refused to hand over the Potentia to the then Major Sheppard, despite the fact that it was intended for him. We have greatly mourned our error as it turned out to be a test of the Ancestors. We will endeavor to do our best to not fail in this second chance we have been gifted with."

Woolsey gave John a raised eyebrow. John just shrugged in turn. He wasn't going to explain his choice while the two women were present. John didn't trust them in the slightest. He also braced himself as he felt Todd approaching. While Allina and Sanir were seated near one set of doors to the conference room, Todd deliberately entered by the other, at John's mental instruction. There was no need to have him too close to the Daganians until they knew how the women would react.

The reactions of the two women were nearly instantaneous on Todd's entry. They both tried to bolt. Unfortunately for them, Ronon had anticipated this and stood in the doorway nearest them to prevent any escape. John had also sent a mental order to the city to lock that door, so even if by some chance, they had made it past Ronon, there would have been no retreat through that door.

John also placed himself carefully between the women and Todd as they turned on him in horror, "What have we done to so anger you? How can you have that monster at your back, with no fear?" Allina demanded. The situation would have been hilarious if it wasn't so concerning, especially since it appeared that Vala had finally prevailed and talked Todd into dying the rest of his hair to match his roots.

"The person who is behind me is not a monster, though he might disagree with that assessment. You asked to meet my husband, Todd. This is him. I did warn you that his species has a long history of violence," John pointed out. Don't bother trying to get through that door. Not until you listen to what we have to say. After that, if you want to leave, we'll allow it. However, I would remind you that you have already been warned by your precious Ancestors that you failed the first test and I am letting you know that your capability to accept this will be your second," John's tone had turned hard.

He received a mixture of amusement and exasperation from Todd as his mate moved around him and settled in the chair furthest from the others. Allina and Sanir shared frightened and uncertain looks before finally, and with clear reluctance, resuming their seats. John nodded before launching into his explanation of Wraith children, their reluctance to feed, and how some adults maintained that reluctance, regardless of how long they have been forced to feed on humans.

Once it was clear that Todd was no longer capable of feeding on humans, the two women, while not relaxing, at least looked far less skittish. Teyla must have retrieved Kannan and their children, as well as Ronon's boys. Allina gave Ronon a look of shocked understanding as Cooria happily climbed into his lap, where he had taken a seat in a mid-point between the Sheppards and the Daganians. John smiled at Orrilin and Serwen when they completely ignored the tension in the room and went up to the two women, greeting them. Teyla and Kannan kept close, clearly intending on pulling their children away from the two Daganians if the women appeared to pose a threat to the preschoolers.

"They… they're so young…" Allina finally spoke again as she eyed Teyla's sons.

"There are a few that are even younger than Orrilin and Serwen. These children have already received the retrovirus. It is perfectly safe for them, according to the Nox and Dr. Keller. They will never know the hunger and drive to feed on humans as their birth parents did," Kannan responded firmly as he picked up Serwen and settled the boy on his hip.

"How did they come to be in your care?" Sanir asked, eyeing the children as if they would turn vicious at any second.

"We've already set up shield generators on other worlds. One of them was attacked by a hive, the children were in the Hive. Todd provided us with means to distinguishing the difference between adult and immature wraith. From there it was a matter of locking onto the immature wraith and beaming them safely aboard our ships before destroying the hive. Of course, we gave the Queen and all the wraith on board an opportunity to take the retrovirus. Only four fully matured adults accepted. We were forced to kill the rest in order to protect the human world," John kept his tone neutral as he gave bare facts.

"They were on a hive? How can you trust them not to attack you? How can you trust the adults that _have _fed on humans to not attack you?" Allina asked in clear and genuine disbelief. Her mind was in turmoil. John's telepathy had kicked in again and let him know that while she wasn't outright willing to risk failing the Ancestors, she had no way of understanding how so could trust those of a species that had caused so many in Pegasus so much harm.

John considered this, before going with the response that would serve as both a warning and one that would be the hardest to argue against, though he went with a gross over exaggeration of the truth, "Simple. Because I can read their minds. My bond with Todd awoke a latent telepathic ability in myself. There is nothing I can't pluck from their minds, just like I can tell you that Sanir is half wondering if you wouldn't be better off if Kolya had killed me when recovering the Potentia after all."

Allina turned to look at Sanir so quickly, John wasn't certain she wouldn't get whiplash from it. As for Sanir, her expression had turned deathly pale. John simply smirked, "You didn't think that being the child of an Ancient didn't come with perks, did you? My brother can create lightning. My ex-wife, whose father was also an Ancient, has telekinesis. My daughter can heal serious injuries of others with a thought." John decided to hammer home the reminder that they had failed to recognize him once and it would be a bad idea to do so again.

Allina and Sanir looked distinctly uncomfortable. Sanir looked genuinely afraid and her thoughts matched with her expression. Allina's were focused on how to recover ground, as she realized how thin the ice that they were both on was, given that her second was essentially thinking stupid thoughts and got caught at it. She straightened her back, "We… we made a mistake once, and I will not allow my people to make it again, simply because of our past. If these Wraith have truly stopped harming humans, or the children have not done so at all… You must understand that we are uncertain as to why, even if they have that you would be forgiving towards the adults. The children are innocent, yes, but what the adults have done…"

Todd interrupted her before she could continue, "It was a matter of survival. Would you not kill some of your herds for food if you were otherwise starving? The difference with us is that we were also reluctant to do so because we knew that those that we must feed on to survive were perfectly aware of their fate if they were to be fed on by us well before their deaths. We had to in order to survive. This does not mean that all of us took pleasure from it. In such cases, we are far happier to accept the retrovirus rather than be forced to feed on humans.

"There is a genuine difference in those of us who take pleasure in feeding and harming others and those of us who simply endeavored to survive. One will kill for pleasure and sport. The other only feeds when necessary, to survive. It is for this reason that so many of our young do not survive once they begin being forced to feed. When it comes to choosing a life surviving at the expense of others or their own death, they frequently chose death for themselves. Such will not be the fate of future generations if I have any say in the matter. My actions in these past few months mean that my children will never know the hunger or suffering it brings to others," If anyone would have wondered if the navy-blue hair detracted from Todd's serious appearance, that speech would have set them straight.

Allina looked distinctly uncomfortable after essentially having it pointed out that the majority of Todd's species was so opposed to killing humans, they chose death over feeding on them. They were learning that the majority of adults were, as a result, the worst of the species in terms of their morals.

John gave her a positive, as well as a piece of the bigger picture to focus on, "Think of it this way, the Wraith are at a turning point of their evolution. They can either take the retrovirus and live without the necessary violence their previous lives required for their survival, or the next time they make an attempt to cull a world under Atlantis's protection, they will die. Either way, we will no longer tolerate anyone feeding on humans. We are merely making the choice to prevent it occurring with genocide when there is a far more… rational alternative.

"Another thing you need to keep in mind, the Wraith aren't the worst things out there. There is also a species we know little of, other than that they are called the Naari. They destroyed our world, without provocation, and without any reason beyond that they couldn't enslave us. That's right, they destroyed my home world because we were too powerful to be enslaved. They didn't do it out of a necessity to survive, but because they wanted… well we don't know what they want exactly, but I'm guessing it involves nothing nice or pretty for humans, given that, from the little we do know, they wiped out a completely peaceful species from another galaxy because they had enough technology to resist their control," John watched as both women became ashen-faced.

"Worse than the Wraith?" Allina asked, her tone colored with the dread that the thought invoked even as her face paled to a sheer white.

"Much worse, after all, my mother launched a plan ten thousand years ago to give us a shot, just a chance to defeat these guys. They've already destroyed my home world. A world that held seven _billion _human lives. That's more lives than the Wraith have taken in the last ten thousand years, wiped out, in a period of _hours. _They are currently ravaging our home galaxy and the odds are that once they are done there, they will turn their attentions here if we don't stop them before they finish there. Those other species that are on Lantea, besides the Wraith, they are from my home galaxy. They are advanced in technology.

"Advanced enough that they can build spaceships to travel here and they are _refugees_. That is what we are up against. That means that we need everyand I do mean _every_ person capable of fighting them trained to do so, so that when they turn their attentions here, they won't be able to repeat what they are doing to the Milky Way. That's why we need as many Wraith to take the retrovirus. Because if we don't help them evolve and put aside our differences, then we _all _will pay the ultimate price, complete annihilation," John made the point of hammering that point home.

Other than to a few Coalition reps, this information hadn't been spread just yet. John was making the choice to ensure that these people realized that the Wraith's change had to be accepted for the safety of all. Sanir was glancing between Todd, Cooria, Orrilin, and Serwen and while Allina took in the information and processed what it meant for her people.

"Why is your hair blue?" Sanir finally asked, clearly unable to process the information as Allina appeared to be attempting to do. "I thought the Wraith only had white hair."

Ronon snorted at the ridiculous question. Todd sighed, and John suspected that she wasn't the first person to ask him since he had dyed it sometime earlier that day, as the change would be enough for curiousity from most people.

Instead of ignoring the question, Todd answered it with surprising honesty, "Male wraith carriers are born with hair of various colors. My hair was originally this color. When we begin to feed, our hair color is lost. However, an entertaining side-effect of the retrovirus is that those who were born with color in our hair are regaining that color. It was suggested by several others, and I agree, that since my hair would be peculiar looking with only the roots being blue, that I should merely dye my hair to match what my hair will grow as in the future. I have thus done so."

"Did River and Arthur go for it too or are you leading by example?" John asked, allowing himself the distraction for a few moments while Allina processed the information, _still_.

"They wish to wait to ascertain if it is a fluke that only I shall have or if they will also regain their hair color. Given how short a period of time since they received the retrovirus, they aren't certain as to the results yet," Todd responded casually.

Sanir didn't seem to know what to make of this information but before she could really respond to the information that there were other adult wraith around somewhere, Allina finally snapped out of the contemplative state. She retrieved their bags and then shoved them across the table towards Todd, "If the Ancestors have been planning for these… Naari for ten thousand years, that is our test. Are we strong enough to accept the fact that our old enemy must become our ally, or we will all parish? That is why the ascended one said that if we failed the second test, it would spell our doom. I do not know what those tablets say or what is contained on these crystals, but I do not doubt they are intended for you."

Sanir looked at Allina in absolute shock. Allina was sitting with her back straight. Though John could tell there was still a great deal of fear in her mind directed towards Todd and the children, given that she had lacked the longer opportunity to get to know Todd as the others in the room had, she possessed a steel determination to follow the path the Ancestors intended for her.

John decided to reward her courage in the face of such uncertain fears, "We appreciate that you have been willing to listen to our position. With that in mind, will tomorrow do to install the Shield Generator and place another on the gate?"

Allina nodded firmly, "When your people come to perform the work, we will welcome them and accept your gracious gift. We will also, of course, turn over the Potentia to you, as it is rightfully yours."

John would have protested that they didn't really _need _the ZPM anymore, given their vast stores within the city, with literally thousands of them, but it was also a risk to leave the thing virtually unguarded, despite the Daganian intentions of protecting it. Instead he gave his agreement and let Woolsey take over the conversation with Allina about the form their alliance would take while he and Todd retreated to Todd's lab with the crystals for examine later. When they returned after their little trip, Allina and Sanir seemed to have relaxed a great deal.

The pair bowed deeply to John and then almost as deeply to Todd. It was an odd moment before Allina turned to John, "Mr. Woolsey has explained that your mother made a great prophecy that your bond with your mate will enable the survival of all humanity. That she went through a great deal of effort to ensure that these events would come to pass so that we might all survive. We feel truly blessed to be honored with the gift of meeting your mate before so many of your other allies."

With that, they gave a much lesser bow to Woolsey again and headed out of the conference room to depart through the gate. John just turned to Woolsey, "Really? Like we don't have enough issues with one cult of Sheppard worshippers, you need to add another?"

Teyla intervened before Woolsey could attempt to defend himself, "They were already set to worship you, I believe. You are the child of those they revered above all others. Undoubtedly, they have also heard from their trading partners of various feats that you managed, John. The bond between you and Todd needed to be presented in a way that it was seen as blessed by the Ancestors. Otherwise, they likely could have taken a dislike or posed a potential threat to Todd, viewed him as a subversion of someone who otherwise would have been their salvation. Now, they see him as a _necessary _part of the salvation of the people of Pegasus from the wraith who would not choose a new path."

"Oh, great, so Todd's the Virgin Mary to my God. That's real reassuring," John grumbled.

Todd sighed, "That analogy is a poor one." John had temporarily forgotten that Todd had read the bible cover to cover.

"Yeah, well, I'm grumpy. I'm sick of suddenly finding either people wanting to stab me in the back or turn me into some sort of twisted Messiah. It's creepy," John grouched further.

"I believe it is in part due to your reluctance to have others worship you that makes them so eager to do so. They believe you will truly do what is right because you are virtuous and desire to protect others, not because you desire more praise," Teyla pointed out.

John glared at her. The worst part was that she was probably right. John had a hero complex and he wasn't even going to bother denying it. His first instinct would always be to do the right thing, even if it wasn't logical to anyone else or easy. Case in point, his choosing to let Todd go when they escaped from Kolya. If he hadn't done so, things would be significantly different. Jeanie likely would be dead from the nanites, the Replicators would still have played a significant risk. Hell, there was even the probability that without the ZPM that he had stolen from the replicators, Atlantis never would have returned to Earth, meaning John wouldn't have had the golden opportunity to get custody of Rikki, they wouldn't have had the ZPMs she created, never mind a bunch of other advantages that she created.

It was also possible that Sam would have still been on Atlantis with the replicators still around and thus wouldn't have given a warning to evacuate Earth like they had. There were enough people on Atlantis to ensure the survival of humanity, so long as they had enough time to rebuild. That option wouldn't have existed if Sam wasn't there to give the warning.

John shuddered. It hadn't been the easy choice, but it had been the right one, not that the others had understood John's reasoning of his giving his word. John ignored the biggest thing though, if he hadn't done the right thing, _he _wouldn't have Todd now. Sure, he wouldn't have known what he was missing, but hindsight was 20/20 and damned if John wasn't glad that he made that one _correct _choice.

Teyla and Ronon looked at John indulgently as he huffed, "Yeah, I get it, if I didn't have a hero complex, people wouldn't make me out to be a hero. It doesn't make me happy, you know."

"That's what we're here for. To keep your ego from inflating. At least we don't have to worry about you getting a god complex too. You don't like people worshipping you enough for that," Ronon responded. Todd snorted along with John on that one.


	19. Chapter 19

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 19: The Politics of a World

John slumped onto his bed, feeling a mixture of rage and relief. It had been 18 weeks since his bonding with Todd, 20 since Earth was destroyed and for all that they had managed to get three of the ships his mother had left for them up, in shape and fully staffed, in part thanks to the Travelers who had latched onto the offered arrangement of being permitted to have partial use of the ships in exchange for merging with the Lantean culture. Traveler children would be raised on Atlantis, safe from threats, while the adults would be free to live on the ships, help wipe out the Wraith who wouldn't accept the retrovirus, fight the Naari, and protect humanity.

Everyone saw it was a win-win scenario. The problem was that even though they had just destroyed the sixteenth hive in the past three months, a feat no other Pegasus culture had succeeded at in the past ten thousand years, and John suspected even the Ancients hadn't managed such a swath of damage into the Wraith numbers in so short a time frame, they hadn't managed to convert any full hives.

Oh, they had received plenty of hive deserters. Their Wraithkin population was now up to 369 children and 76 adults, totaling in at 445 Wraithkin transitioned, adults being termed by any who were over the age of 16 and had at least begun their transitions. Of the adults, there were another 19 bonded pairs, though most weren't actively pregnant like the first were. The others were merely jumping ship when they were presented the opportunity. It was clear that the more that each interaction with the hives that Todd made his little speech, trying to talk a queen into submitting to the retrovirus, had allowed for more information to be transferred to the lower ranking wraith.

Apparently, even among the wraith there was a rumor mill and it was now abuzz. The majority of the couples hadn't come from Hives they took on directly, but instead where found on the dead worlds that John's people were now staking out. This was partially to prevent any such couples from walking into the death traps that were the breeding colonies, but also in the hopes of finding such colonies.

The majority of the children from the hives, 336 to be exact, along with the 12 transitioning adults were from various colonies and the consensus was that they all practiced the same methods to extract as many young wraith as possible from the carriers. Of the 348 Wraithkin that had been from the breeding colonies, only nine were carriers, all of them had been born with white hair, making them harder to detect than those with other colors, and only two of the children were girls. There were another two girls that were hive daughters from two rival hives, which had made things interesting as the four girls seemed torn between despising each other and bonding over the extremes of their situation.

However, for all these successes, they had yet to turn even one full hive. Todd settled next to John, sensing his mixed-up emotions and clearly uncertain about what to make of them. John immediately shifted his head to his husband's lap and turned it to the now very distinct baby bump there. The thing was that every time they went out, they still took Todd, as he was the one best suited to try talking the Wraith into listening, but John also hated the risks. This only increased as his husband's waistline had.

One point of unaltered joy for John, one that could not be changed at this point was that Todd was growing their little girl inside of him. John smirked at that information that Keller had provided two days prior. Apparently, the Ancient scanners were better at detecting gender sooner than human ultrasounds were. Of course, they were far better at detecting a lot of things, so that wasn't really that surprising.

"I still find it baffling that your nuzzling at my abdomen is enough to settle even your greatest angers," Todd observed.

John snorted, realizing that he had calmed quite a bit. He sent a mental nudge at the baby even though she didn't have a brain developed enough yet to have any real sort of consciousness. There was just a sense of being from her and that's it. Still it soothed him, "It's cause I get to develop a bond with the baby before she's born. It was my biggest point of jealousy with Nancy while she was pregnant with Rikki. The mother of the child has this special bond that the dad doesn't get. When she's born, it will be your heartbeat that she recognizes and is soothed by. This whole telepathy thing means that I get to have a stronger connection to her than I did with Rikki when she was first born."

"I do believe that McKay would call you a sap for expressing that sentiment," Todd pointed out, though John could tell he was amused rather than anything else.

"Which is why I'm not telling him that, just like I'm not going to nuzzle your baby bump while Rodney is nearby," John pointed out logically.

He finally sighed and sat up, "It's just frustrating. We're making progress, I know we are. Seven more adult wraith deserted their hive today, along with the twelve kids we retrieved. That's the highest number of adults we've gotten in a single go. But we haven't gotten any hives. I know the Tok'ra and Jaffa are making good progress in building two new ships so far, but we are going to need more, a lot more of we want to stand a chance against the Naari. We need the Wraith to start turning by entire hives, not by small clusters if we're going to stand a real chance."

"You are still concerned by the force of numbers used against your world in it's destruction." Todd mused.

John nodded morosely, "In the alternate timeline, there had only been a smaller, single ship with some fighters attacking Atlantis. They had gotten there earlier, but they were still there. However, there were _thousands _attacking Earth. We just don't have enough information. Did they base their number of ships based on the size of the population or did they only just arrive in the galaxy and went for the biggest prize first before spreading out to other, less populated worlds? What's their strategy? What's their end game? How long is the Milky Way going to occupy their attention before it turns to us?"

"You are planning on sending the Apollo on a reconnaissance mission to the Milky Way, are you not?" Todd asked.

"Yeah, we need to know the situation, see if there are more people we can rescue, relocate… train to use our tech…" John leaned into Todd's side.

"Bran and Arthur are assigned to the Apollo, are they not?" Todd asked.

"They are. They are leaving Haven with Hawk and River during the mission," John confirmed. "You did a nice job with the communications relay, by the way."

"It required numerous complex calculations to create a communications relay that could be used on an intergalactic scale," Todd shrugged. "It was also necessary. As long as the Apollo drops the relay satellites in the correct locations along the route, there should be stable communication for us to them."

"Yeah, doesn't make me worry any less. Still, we need as much intel as possible. We also need to find out if we can rescue and transport other worlds that are friendly, if the Naari have gotten there. I can't imagine the Unas taking being controlled by the Naari well. Their freedoms from the Goa'uld were hard won," John shook his head. "Plus, we have to find any Jaffa that might have survived. It's a real shit situation."

Todd looked unaffected, though John could tell that he understood that John was in a difficult position. Nancy and Woolsey had determined a rudimentary government, though it would require a lot of refinement, and had set up an election that would take place in week. John had glared pure hatred at Nancy when she announced that the candidates would not be running themselves, but rather would be nominated. If nominated, they couldn't decline, those who nominated them could campaign for them, but they couldn't campaign for themselves.

The government was to be a ruling council with seven seats, each one responsible for overseeing the day-to-day responsibilities of their area but also voting within the council on major decisions that impacted the entire populous of Lantea. The seven seats were Military, Education, Sciences, Culture, Interplanetary Relations, Health and Humanities, and Judicial.

Each seat had a different term length, how many terms could be served, and responsibilities that needed to be met or they could be forcefully removed by a popular vote, regardless of how long they were in office. The person also had to have the correct qualifications to hold the seat. Military and Judicial were supposed to be life-time appointments. Once they had the seat, it was theirs until they either retired, died, or were forced out. Military required a minimum rank of Colonel for a nomination. Judicial required a minimum of ten years practicing law.

The four candidates that had been nominated for Military were John, O'Neill, Carter, and Romanov. The first three of them weren't that surprising given their prolonged responsibilities in the Stargate Program. Romanov had been nominated by the Russian military personnel, though he assured John that he would much rather not end up responsible for the military at large, given how much work it still required.

The Judicial candidates were Woolsey, and no less than ten other law professors from various colleges and universities that had been grabbed during the evacuations. All of them had been part of the group working with Woolsey and Nancy to establish the new government and had made noises about not being interested in actually being on the council itself, so Woolsey was essentially the only candidate that had any real clout.

Interplanetary Relations was a two-term maximum position, with each term being a five-year duration. The requirements were at least a five-year history of diplomacy and negotiations, either internationally or interplanetary. This one had so many nominees that John was actually a little stunned. Almost every long running gate team from the SGC and Atlantis had nominated someone. Hell, John's team had nominated Teyla. This meant that there over twenty candidates. However, the top contenders were Jackson, Teyla, Lorne, and Dr. Elise Torres from SG-14.

Education was a three-term maximum position, with each term being four-years. The requirement was a minimum of a master's degree in an educational field, plus a minimum of five years teaching in that field. Mrs. Amanda Mitchell and Mrs. Abigail Lorne, and John's sister-in-law, Julia were the top contenders in a list of nominations covering almost thirty teachers and professors. Given that the three women were also the primary players who helped organize the basic schooling system they had only finished establishing, it was a huge factor in their favor.

Sciences had one-term with the term being a ten-year term position. The requirement was a minimum of at least one Doctorate in a hard science field be it Physics, Engineering, Botany, or another such field. The Sciences position required oversight over multiple divisions, for each of the hard sciences, with established heads of each of those fields. It had been decided that Agricultural responsibilities would fall under this category, to nearly every candidates' annoyance, however it had to fall somewhere, and the Sciences made the most sense. The only candidates for this field were McKay, Carter again, and Zelenka. Carter expressed a preference for being given this seat over the Military, but as that would only be relevant if she got elected to both, it was a moot point.

Health and Humanities was a maximum four-term, four-year to a term position. The requirements were a minimum of five years practicing in a medical or mental health field, be it a doctor or nurse, with a background of at least two-years involved in medical research, given that this position was responsible for medical development as well as overseeing the physical and mental health of the populous at large. There were only three nominees for this position, Beckett, Keller, and Lam. John was fairly certain this was because they were the only three medical professionals who had experience being head of a medical department that dealt with infectious diseases from other worlds.

The last seat, Culture was a maximum two-term, three-year term position. This position was peculiar as it the requirement was degrees in anthropology, archeology, linguistics, or the arts. The position was also one that considered essential for preserving a memory of what happened and shaping the path forward, as a people. This last position also only had three candidates, Jackson, again, was a nominee and like Carter had expressed a preference for this position if he was going to be elected into one of the seats, Dr. Elizabeth Lindsay, and Mrs. Abigail Lorne, who had been honestly stunned to be nominated for two seats. Evan, when he observed that his mother had spent so long sticking it to the man, she never expected to possibly become the man, had gotten a response from O'Neill of 'she can join the club with me and Sheppard, we have t-shirts'.

Overall, John was mildly relieved that he had only been nominated for one of the seats. He certainly didn't want the position though. In fact, he had been the one to nominate O'Neill, and had talked Nancy and Jeanie into running a little campaign on why O'Neill was the better option over John for the Military seat, given his long history of saving Earth, his experience running both the SGC and Homeworld Security, and the fact that John would be better suited to the military campaign of turning the Wraith into allies, given his marriage than he would be to the administrative side of things.

As for the voting system, Nancy had had Zelenka, McKay, and Rikki set up a program that was downloaded into the systems of everyone's personal data-pads from ages sixteen and up. Whenever a topic was up for a vote from the populous, such as council seats, in the weeks leading up to the day of the vote, the program would provide all the necessary information on the topic.

If it was an election, then the program provided bios on all the candidates, their qualifications, and their stances on numerous significant topics that involved the responsibilities of the seat. If it was a law or ordinances that they wanted confirmed by the population it would contain all the information pertaining to the topic for the vote of yes or no, no's had the option of clarifying their objections to the piece of legislature.

The program had dozens of firewalls built in with traps and alerts for any breaches, and each citizen would have their final vote on the matter submitted at the end of the day to a central computer that held numerous safeguards. This had the advantage that the election didn't require the people to go to polling stations or stop the general work of the city. They had even tested out the voting system to ensure that there was no hiccups by using it to name the third Lantean ship that was ready for service, the second one having already been named the LSS Terra.

To Nancy's annoyance, but nearly everyone else's amusement, the third ship was named the LSS Cthulhu. John had a strong suspicion that the name was so popular because one of the people evacuated had happened to have had a tablet that held the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft, that had subsequently made the rounds around Atlantis and the mainland. It had made the rounds so easily because Jackson had had some of the computer programmers create a system to allow everyone on Lantea to upload the books, music, and movies they had had on them during the evacuation, or in the city, if they had already been there, to be shared with everyone.

For some reason Lovecraft had received a sudden revival in popularity. No doubt it was the existential crisis that most of the populous had experienced that made his works so popular, but it had still resulted in the ship being named after a fictional ancient god of evil and destruction. Todd had found Lovecraft's creature a delight and had actually been the one to nominate the name, which John also figured was also a significant factor in it winning the vote.

Still, the test worked, meaning that Nancy and Woolsey felt safe going ahead with the election. The awkward part would come afterwards, as each council member worked out how to establish the different personnel and roles within the administration during their time in office. John seriously hoped that he didn't get elected, that it was O'Neill and that the guy just kept at the job until he died. Maybe in ten or fifteen years, when John's body wasn't spry anymore, he would reconsider the idea, but he had little interest in being stuck behind a desk and in meetings for a decade or more.

Todd eyed John indulgently as he ran a hand through John's hair. John enjoyed that. He also enjoyed that he didn't need to tell Todd what he was thinking because his husband knew. John sighed, "Alright, I got that meeting with O'Neill and our colonels. We are going over the dumb shit, like uniforms and divisions and the like. Honestly, it should be left to the person actually voted into the position of military leader." With that John heaved himself off the bed and stretched.

"If you were the one voted in, I believe you would have wished to have that sorted out before the election forced the task on you entirely," Todd pointed out sagely, with a bit of amusement.

John sighed, "Just another reason I don't want the job. Do you think they will let me resign immediately if I get elected?"

"If you get elected, I am not certain they will allow it," Todd shrugged.

"Great, the first mandatory service of Atlantis. That's just not fair," John grumbled before kissing Todd and heading to the room for the meeting.

Another downside to the elections being so close was that there were posters nearly everywhere. Where people got the materials for them when everyone was basically using technology rather than paper was a bit beyond John, but then Jeannie _had _been campaigning rather hard for McKay, and on John's request, O'Neill, and she had access to the Asgard Core. John shook his head and took a seat next to O'Neill in what had essentially been labeled the war chamber.

Jack gave him an eyebrow as Caldwell and Ellis joined them. The others all joined shortly afterward. The final people to enter surprised John a bit. It was Rikki and Tom. They held several things, some of which looked like weapons, but John figured their presence was related to what weapons they would be phasing out and those that would be solidified as what would be used going forward. However, that belief was quickly dispelled as the weapons were laid out and the pair held up what looked to be a basic, black, long-sleeved shirt. It was peculiar in that it had ties along one side, as if it were designed to be similar to an Asian style. There was also a pair of pants that looked both similar and different from standard BDUs. It had the pockets and loose nature, but it also had the ties at the hips and it also had what looked like a built-in loop for a lightsaber and a few extra pockets.

As soon as he noticed that John leaned forward. Once Rikki and Tom launched into the physical properties of the new clothing style, John got a Chester cat grin, "You're telling me that this fabric is not only bullet proof, but also can defuse stunning blasts from Wraith weapons, provided that too many aren't taken at once?"

"Yeah, apparently, MIT was already developing the Polycarbonate fabric before we grabbed a bunch of people from the campus. A few of them had been working on the project, so Dr. McKay had them work up some designs. MIT's problem was that given the bullet proof nature of the material, it couldn't really be turned into clothing easily because if a bullet can't penetrate it, how could a needle? It can't, at least not without compromising the material itself and thus it's effectiveness.

"Now, the material is lightweight and breathes well, so it's comfortable. The problem is that it isn't exactly stretchy, so it's can't be just pulled over the head like standard shirts would. That's why there are ties along the sides. They are also made from the same material, so they aren't going to rip," Rikki confirmed.

"How can it be more effective than Kevlar and lighter weight, but still breathable?" Jack asked. The question wasn't unreasonable.

"Simple. The fibric is basically a really fine, thin diamond-like material in a few layers, it's formed in a honeycomb pattern on a microscopic level, which is why it isn't stretchy, but then you wouldn't want it to be. This might be able to stop a bullet or arrow from penetrating the skin, but it doesn't stop the kinetic energy. That means that someone who got shot could still suffer major internal damage. If it were stretchy, than it loses some of its effectiveness. It's designed to minimize the damage and that they won't bleed out before a doctor even has a chance of helping them. Also, we've tested it against our blasters for the more… lethal settings and it doesn't stop them from doing damage," Rikki looked a little unhappy about that.

"Yeah, well, at least it will slow a Wraith that's planning on feeding on someone on the battlefield," Lorne pointed out.

"And if we make tack vests out of the stuff, that adds a few more layers of protection against attack," John added. He could certainly see the potential. He also liked the black material as well. He had always preferred black for the uniforms they had anyway.

"Right, now we just need a design to go along with this. Also, I say we ditch the dress uniform bullshit, it's useless anyway," O'Neill pointed out.

"So, we're really going for one united military force, rather than different branches?" Lorne asked, still not thrilled by the idea. He had put up protests about the integration into a single military force, arguing that the military had always been divided into different areas.

"It's less about different branches, more different units now. It also allows for greater cross-training. Think about it this way, would you prefer someone whose only good flying a Jumper, or a 302, or as ground troops, or for tactical strikes, or would you prefer someone who can fly a Jumper, 302, and can handle basic recon. The more diversity we have in our military, the better we stand in terms of odds of a fight," John argued. He was pushing for the united military with O'Neill. It also sorted out the awkward detail that they only had two Air Force generals and that was it in terms of generals. The various nationalities of the Colonels would cause more issues than it solved if they kept different branches.

Lorne frowned but it was Romanov who pointed out the practicality, "We aren't dealing with only different nations anymore. We are dealing with different worlds. Few have experiences with active militaries. On Earth we were isolated in a way that we aren't anymore. On Earth it made sense to have different branches of military for Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines, and the like. It's different now. We are either fighting in space, on ground, or using a Puddle Jumper. Our numbers are so low that the very fact we can have a standing military of our size at all is remarkable. In fact, our military itself makes of a significant portion of the population of Atlantis, almost fifth of the population to be exact."

Lorne shifted, uncomfortable with the reminder but he didn't argue. It was a harsh reminder that having just over eleven thousand military personnel made up almost a fifth the population of humans who were once from Earth. That was if they discounted the Travelers, who added more fighters It was a grim reminder for everyone. The fact that they did now have the Travelers increased the need for unifying a single military force.

Jack broke the awkward silence that fell, "Right, well, I think we can agree that it will be a massive undertaking to up date the uniforms, but let's be honest, for now we can limit the updates to those who will be going off world on a regular basis. The rest can be replaced over a few months, once we have numbers on necessary sizing. Honestly, the idea of a dress uniform does seems useless to me anyway. It's all about pomp and that non-sense. It's bureaucracy. I would hope that we could avoid allowing that to dictate our lives now. That's the reason we did away with the stupid regulations for hair styles and fashion. As long as it doesn't impede your ability to fight, it shouldn't matter."

Romanov snorted in amusement at that, stroking the beard he had begun to grow over the past months since the regulations banning them were dropped. Carter, Becker, and McDougal had taken to wearing their hair in simple French braids now that they didn't have to keep them off the collar. Becker had even added a little color to her hair with bright pink highlights. It hadn't impacted the organization of the military at all, it did however make everyone a lot more comfortable with their lives.

It also made them seem less stiff, more approachable. John was of the opinion that that made things less tense. The Nox certainly seemed to think so. As it was, there had been few protests to the changes. Those who did protest it were the stick in the mud type like Bates once had been. Now, however, Bates seemed to have relaxed quite a bit. As long as it didn't risk operational security, he had far less issue with it than he would have had six years ago.

After the explanation of the new materials for uniforms, and the subsequent debate, Rikki and Tom went on to illustrate the various weapons that they had brought with them. The most obvious phase out had been the projectile weapons, like the P90s. With the probability of them running out of ammo and lack of efficiency against the Wraith, the new blasters that Rikki had created were far more efficient. There was a bit of debate about using the Lantean Staff Weapon. Mitchell was all for its use, he had in fact been working with Cha'ra of the Jaffa Council to develop a modified fighting style to accommodate the differences from the traditional Jaffa weapons.

Still, few people, beyond the Jaffa, had learnt how to even handle staff weapons with any level of proficiency. It was finally decided that while gate teams _could _learn the weapon and if they demonstrated sufficient proficiency with the weapons, could use it in the field. John figured there would be a point in the future that the weapon either gained popularity among the younger crowd for one reason or another, or it would fizzle out of interest with other easier to handle weapons, even if they weren't as versatile as the staff weapon, when handled properly.

Zats were, like the P90s, easily settled on phasing out. They were next to useless against Wraith, knowledge gained from prior experience with attempting to phase them into use on Atlantis, though the attempt didn't last long. Wraith were, to all appearances immune to the type of energy discharge a Zat released, regardless of repeated uses. The theory was that their regenerative capabilities made the things next to worthless. If the Zat ever returned it would be because it was tested against a Naari and was proven to have devastating effect against them. However, given that it was a short-range weapon, it wasn't a good option to keep in Pegasus.

The lightsabers were almost immediately labeled a specialty weapon. While there was a high demand amongst the military to use the weapon, as it was one that would have a massive impact on fighting the Wraith and Naari alike, it also required a high level of sword training. They wanted to avoid anyone cutting off limbs accidentally. Rikki had also developed practice weapons that would be the same weight as the various models of lightsabers but lacked the dangerous edge. Instead, they created a temporary localized stunning effect on any portion of the body hit.

The effect didn't cause an organ disruption, but it did create an incredibly uncomfortable numbing sensation to the nerves in the area hit. Ronon and Teyla loved the practice weapons because they drove home the need for proficiency without causing damage that would prevent people continuing practice after a few minutes. It also created a level of seriousness applied to the training.

There were three different models of the lightsabers and their practice counterparts. There was the standard sword model, the bantos rods model, for the Athosians and those who had learnt and enjoyed that fighting style, and a staff model with the plasma blades coming out both ends. John and Ronon favored the sword model because they were comfortable with swords due to prior experience. Teyla obviously adored the bantos model and was excited to test it in the field. This was also true for the entirety of John's SpecOps unit, they preferred sword or bantos models. However, the most popular model was actually the staff model, with it's longer reach, and the knowledge that a person would often be fighting multiple opponents when in the field.

There was also the bonus of there being plenty of Jaffa to teach people how to handle a staff weapon of any type, compared to the severely limited number of teachers for the bantos and sword models. The staff model had a major disadvantage though in that it had to be folded in half and slung across the back, meaning it was also was the one that would take the longest to activate, since the user had to remove it from the back harness, unfold it and then activate it, rather than just drawing it from the side holsters like the bantos and sword models allowed.

After that decision making process, the two scientists departed, and they got to work on the long, obnoxious process of determining how to divide up the various units. There was also the matter of cross-training, what were standard expectations for all troops and what were specific requirements for different jobs. The hottest topic of debate was whether or not flight training, of Jumpers or 302s depending on the presence of the ATA gene, should be mandatory.

John was of the opinion that it should be, but there were others who didn't agree. The biggest argument was that most people lacked John's, and Jack's, natural affinity to being able to flight anything they got their hands on. It was finally agreed, however, that all military personnel with the ATA gene would be required to have at least basic training flying the Jumpers and that while 302 flight training wasn't mandatory, it would be avalible, upon request and sufficient time for training, to all military personnel.

Given that Jumper training had already been mandatory for all ATA positive military personnel, this wasn't much of a change. It was availability to flight training of the 302s that was the big change. Still, this was the last thing that they settled on for the night as it was getting late and Todd had given John a mental warning about how close they were to the mess halls closing for the night.

Todd spent the week leading up to the elections watching his mate grow increasingly tense and unhappy. He knew it was, in part, due to the looming threat of possibly being elected onto the council and as a result being forced to give up his position as the leader of AR-1. It had been one of the downfalls of the council. The elected officials would no longer be permitted to take on any high-risk missions. Todd knew that John was not the kind of man to sit back and let others do the work while he gave the orders. It wasn't in his nature.

That was one of the reasons that the Wraithkin of Atlantis had unofficially chosen John as their leader. They were all too accustomed to the tradition of having Queens. However, John's mental strength superseded any Queens that they had encountered. This was combined with his mating to Todd, his sense of honor, his prowess in a fight, and his tactical brilliance that told the Wraithkin that he was the leader they desired for the path going forward. They had also seemed to agree to obey Todd as John's second, and then Teyla and Ronon as third and fourth.

A great many of those present also had a great deal of respect for Keller and her work into freeing them from the hunger, so with regards to their physical health, they deferred to her. Otherwise, the mature Wraith had kept themselves mostly separate from the humans. The only exception was those who were training to become part of John's elite fighting unit labeled SpecOps. The bonded sires who were warriors, as well all the younger Wraith that were called adults by the humans had joined this group.

It was something that Todd intended to be part of as well once he had given birth. However, for now, he oversaw the instruction of both human and Wraithkin trainees and warriors. There were also Jaffa instructors, though they were mostly present for the purpose of developing fighting styles to counter Wraith fighting methods. Still, Todd would relax once he saw his mate relaxed. This would not happen, however, until after the elections occurred.

It did not help that the day before the elections took place, one of the teams 'staking out' the dead worlds used for contacting the colonies, had finally gotten the gate address to one of the worlds that held the colonies. Todd knew this was only possible because the Wraith Sires that controlled the colonies didn't anticipate the Lanteans even knowing of their existence, much less having an interest in them, beyond in the young they supplied the Hives for growth.

The truth was that most of the colonies likely weren't even interested in the wars, both between the Wraith themselves and with Atlantis, beyond what was needed in terms of children and the humans they got in return. John had, naturally, wanted to immediately take a strike team to the world in question. This was overruled by O'Neill, Woolsey, and the other highly placed people who insisted the election had to occur first.

Todd knew that John chaffed at the bit, but he also knew that the majority census of the population of Atlantis was that O'Neill would be better for the council, if only because he was the less active of the two men and wasn't in the condition to go into the field anymore, while John was still in his prime, perfectly capable of fighting and leading from the front. Todd suspected that was part of the reason that Woolsey and Nancy had put the ban on risky missions for council members, in order to keep John off the council.

On the morning of the elections, Todd attempted first to distract John with sex, which was successful for a short while, and then got him to focus on training with the SpecOps group, which had a greater long-term distraction. In addition to the four Athosian teens, there were 42 Wraithkin for the unit, including himself, all four of the young female Wraithkin were in that group, then there were 249 former Marines and Air Force personnel, most of whom were on Atlantis prior to its return to Earth, 21 human teens from Earth, John, Ronon, and Teyla. Of the 319 members of SpecOps, John only considered 74 'combat ready' if not fully trained. John, Teyla, and Ronon were in that number. Todd was not due to his pregnancy.

Unlike other units in the military, John was, as the Unit leader, making it mandatory for flight training with either the Jumpers or 302s, dependent on whether one had a gene or not. In addition to this, they had to have a proficiency with at least one model of lightsabers, hand-to-hand combat, be marksmen with the new blasters, could handle stealth and evasion tactics, tracking, and finally, interrogation and torture resistance. Todd wasn't surprised by John's demanding expectations for their unit. It was one of the reasons they had so few in number.

Around mid-afternoon, John had everyone finish up with their physical training and go to clean up and place their votes. He also gave a joking order not to vote for him. Todd doubted that anyone in their unit would disobey the order, despite the humor. Todd took up his own tablet once they got back to their quarters and cast his own votes. O'Neill for Military, Woolsey for Judicial, Dr. Jackson for Cultural, Lorne for Interplanetary Relations, Abigail Lorne for Education, Carter for Sciences, but only for the selfish reasoning that Todd would rather have McKay at John's back in the field rather than because he felt Carter would do a better job, and finally he voted for Keller for the Health and Humanities seat and submitted it.

Todd glanced over at John's votes and raised an eyebrow. They had voted differently on Interplanetary Relations, "Why Dr. Torres?" He asked in curiousity.

"She's got similar mannerisms to Jackson, plus the background in diplomacy, linguistics, and anthropology. Lorne is great for being friendly with the locals, but I never found him to be the best option for diplomacy," John shrugged.

"Why did you not say this before?" Todd asked.

"Because you have a right to choose to vote for who you think fits best. It's bad enough that I know you only voted against McKay because you want to keep in him the field with me and O'Neill because you know that I don't want the job," John shrugged.

Todd rolled his eyes. With a bit of experimentation, they had learnt that while Todd _was _naturally inclined to take direction from John on a lot of things, he didn't feel compelled to do so unless the situation was one of high risk to Todd's wellbeing. John theorized that it was connected to the bond, something that allowed John to have greater control for the purpose of protecting Todd. That did however mean that Todd had plenty of leeway with making his own decisions which had made John infinitely more comfortable with the situation.

John had also theorized, or Todd suspected mainly just hoped, that his influence would be less once the baby was born. The idea did have some merit, given that the other sires and carriers who weren't actively breeding seemed to spend a great deal of time acting independently of each other. Then again, though, the rest of the sires and carriers also didn't share sleeping quarters. They had, instead, taken suites, like John's and Todd's, and slept in different rooms. The humans found this peculiar, but then Todd knew that the Wraithkin viewed Todd and John's sleeping arrangements as peculiar too. Well, the sires did, the carriers gave Todd looks of envy.

By the time they went to the evening meal, the only topic of conversation was on who thought who would win which seat. The general consensus was that Carter and Jackson, having been nominated to two different seats, had the highest odds of being on the council, though almost no one thought Carter would take the Military seat, despite her long and decorated career.

That evening, just after the voting was finalized, the results were announced over the intercom system, by Woolsey, "_Attention all citizens of Lantea, the votes have been automatically tallied as they were entered, so we now have the results for the election. For the Military Seat, the chosen elected official is Gen. Jonathan O'Neill. For the Judicial Seat, the chosen elected official is Richard Woolsey. For the Interplanetary Relations Seat, the chosen elected official is Dr. Elise Torres. For the Sciences Seat, the chosen elected official is Col. Dr. Samantha Carter. For the Educations Seat, the chosen elected official is Abigail Lorne. For the Cultural Seat, the chosen elected official is Dr. Daniel Jackson. For the Health and Humanities Seat, the chosen elected official is Dr. Jennifer Keller. All seat positions were won through the popular vote and therefore had the majority of the votes. The number of votes to all candidates for each seat are all publicly avalible and can be accessed through the elections program. Congratulations to our new council._

"_And on the behalf of those who were elected I would like to say that I know that our work is going to be a long, arduous task and each of those seats has an entire system to establish. This system will influence the population of Lantea for generations to come. I hope that in time, our council will be recognized as a pinnacle of democracy. I hope to never see it become a situation in which we become polarized on issues that should be basic citizens rights. The swearing in ceremony will commence at 1000 tomorrow for all those who desire to attend or observe via the elections system's streaming," _With that Woolsey's voice cut off.

John had a massive grin on his face, "So, how soon do you think that I can talk O'Neill into going after that breeding colony?"

"I believe the only delay in you being able to go before this was in that they did not wish to risk a potential council members on the mission. It is likely that you will be permitted to assemble your strike force as soon as O'Neill is sworn into his position," Todd assured John.

John gave Todd a hard kiss at that before pulling up the election results and whistled at the landslide that O'Neill had had. Of the population 43,452 adult humans and Wraithkin, adults being over the age of 16, John had only gotten a measly 649 votes to O'Neill's 31,360 votes. Romanov had gotten 6,439 votes, John suspected those were all Russian. Carter had taken the rest with 5,004 votes, which was still significantly more than John's. Todd suspected she only got less than Romanov because she had expressed a preference for the Sciences Seat.

"Obviously, your campaign for O'Neill worked well," Todd couldn't help observing. "Though, it is also possible that the people would prefer their savior to be out fighting rather than sitting on a council."

"I suspect that it's mostly the latter. Alright let's see how else the votes went," John switched to Judicial and winced.

Woolsey had taken 32,435 votes, the rest were split rather evenly between the numerous law school lawyers. Carter, McKay, and Zelenka had all been almost neck and neck for sciences. Carter had taken 15,103 votes to McKay's 14,839 votes and Zelenka's at 13,510 votes. Carter still had won, but it was by the divide of only a few hundred votes and not such a huge divide like those of Judicial and Military.

Education had a similar split, though the margin was a bit wider, at 15,569 votes to Abigail Lorne, 14,829 to Amanda Mitchell, and Julia coming in last at 13,054 votes, the additional candidates hadn't gotten any votes at all. The Cultural Seat had been resoundingly to Jackson at 38,538 votes. The remaining votes were 3,004 votes to Lindsey, and 1,910 to Abigail Lorne, though given that she had taken Education that wasn't as surprising.

Interplanetary Relations had a more typical political voting divide than the others. Jackson had come in dead last, given that he had taken the Cultural vote by a wide margin and the voting system only allowed you to vote for a person who had been nominated to multiple seats once. It was also clear that the majority of those who hadn't voted for him in the cultural had voted for him in the Interplanetary Relations position, as he had 3,082 votes there. Torres had taken the win with 23,479 votes to Teyla's 9,456 votes Lorne's 7,435 votes. However, given that Lorne had lacked the educational background, it wasn't surprising despite his long popularity. Teyla taking so many votes was surprising, if one didn't consider that she had become intensely popular with the people when it had been made know how instrumental Teyla had been in the survival of Atlantis during that first year of the Expedition.

John suspected that Torres had only gotten so many votes because Teyla had expressed her admiration for the woman and made it clear that she considered herself more of a warrior than a negotiator. Todd suspected that Teyla would still be heavily involved in future negotiations though.

The Health and Humanities election had been another landslide victory, this time for Keller, and it was more of a situation that Keller had been the face of health and medical during those first few desperate weeks after the destruction of Earth. John wondered how many people heard the words 'Dr. Keller is in charge, but she's currently in surgery at the moment' during those weeks. Her adoption of a Wraithkin child had also made her immensely popular on that front as well. She took 24,474 votes, Beckett had 11,076 votes, Lam coming in last with 7,902 votes.

John was also amused to find that probably for the first time in human history, every person of voting age had cast their votes. For those who were Americans, it was because for the first time those who previously hadn't voted due to a fear that their vote wouldn't count, believed with such low numbers and no electoral college, every vote _did _count. For the other cultures, it was mainly having a genuine voice in being able to select from qualified candidates. Not one person nominated wasn't qualified to fill the position. Yes, some, like Col. Lorne would have struggled, but he still had enough know how to manage it with some advice. As for the Athosians and Travelers, they were accustomed to everyone voting on major decisions and their leadership, and the Wraithkin had found it fascinating to have any say in their governing at all.

John, Todd could tell, was just personally relieved that he hadn't come even close to being elected for real. Todd also suspected that if he hadn't expressed an explicit desire to continue the fight himself, the Military vote would have gone to John.


	20. Chapter 20

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC, because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Trigger warning, there is some implied abuse evidence, though it isn't directly spoken of. There is also mentions of slavery. This chapter will be upsetting for anyone with those traumas. **

Chapter 20: The Breeding Colony

As Todd had predicted, the very hour after O'Neill had been sworn into his seat as Military head, he had told John if he had a unit of thirty people on his desk by day's end, John would have a green-light for the mission to taking down the breeding colony the next day. John had, in hopes of this very thing, prepared his top fifty list of the SpecOps. The top thirty, including himself, Teyla, and Ronon were submitted to O'Neill fifteen minutes later.

O'Neill gave him a raised eyebrow, "I think that is the fastest you have ever completed paperwork for me, Sheppard. Hell, I think that's the fastest anyone has ever completed paperwork for me."

"I already had the list, up to fifty. Technically we have 74 who could handle these kinds of missions, but the last 24 have less experience and I want them to wet their toes a bit more on smaller missions than this one," John shrugged.

Jack sighed as he looked at the list, "Right, well, that's an awful lot of Wraithkin names I'm seeing here."

"They're all sires, like me. The very idea of enslaving carriers like this… it is as repulsive as it gets. They won't have any issues cutting down the Wraith responsible for this breeding colony or any of the others," John's voice was stone cold, he knew that. He sure as hell wasn't going to hesitate to kill every bastard that mistreated a carrier for their own personal profit. It was an affront to his very nature, as a military man, as a sire, and as a father.

"If you had told me that six months ago, I would have called you insane, now… Well I actually enjoy watching the little rugrats running around all happy and such. It reminds me what I have to look forward to in a few months. Honestly, if I weren't so damned old and on the stupid council, I would probably want on that list too," O'Neill admitted.

John smirked in agreement about that, "Yeah, well, according to Keller, I get a boost from my bond with Todd."

"Oh, yeah, that weird chemical that's created from the bond, she finally figure out what it does?" O'Neill asked.

"It makes me more durable. Literally. Apparently, it acts as a steroid-like substance to accelerate healing and promotes significant neurological maintenance. In a Wraith Carrier, that keeps their brains from degrading into mush. In wraith sires, it boosts their healing capabilities, so they are tougher to kill. In human sires, or at least in me, it means a major mental development boost, hence the telepathy, and she believes it will slow the aging and cellular degeneration and cut my healing time in half. It's like a steroid on steroids without any negative side-effects. So, that means I might live to see 150," John smirked pleased with this.

He wasn't going to bitch about getting a longer life and getting to see grandkids and great-grandkids and possibly even great-great-grandkids before he died. Truth was, Keller had speculated that it might cause a near halt to John's aging, but he wasn't spreading that information about just yet. He didn't want it going around until they had a decade or so to test that theory. As it was Jack glared at him and grunted, "Lucky bastard."

"Yeah, just think about how many kids I could have in another hundred years," John teased. He kind of loved the idea of a big family, which was a good thing what with a kid coming every five years for the foreseeable future.

"Yeah, I'll stick with the one that Carter has incubating for me. I think that's going to be our only kid," Jack shrugged. "Rikki will have plenty of younger siblings from you, she doesn't need a whole hoard of cousins too."

"Well, with your one, she will be up to five. Dave and Julia have their four and I'm not entirely certain they're done yet," John rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I need to go get my people prepped for the mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, you go do that. And do me a favor and don't get injured seriously. I really don't want to handle an angry, pregnant Todd," Jack shuddered at that.

John snorted laughter as he left. There had been a couple of incidents over the past few months that some of the male human scientists had implied that Todd wasn't capable of handling the science of human tech because he wasn't human and was incubating a baby. If John hadn't picked up on Todd's building irritation and gone to resolve the issue, it was entirely possible that one of those scientist would have lost a limb or three. The funny part was that it wasn't Todd that would have done it though. Vala had taken to hanging out around the labs with Todd and Carter, now that she was grounded due to her pregnancy, and if Todd and Carter got pissed-off, and Carter _had _gotten pissed-off at the comments, than Vala turned virtually feral.

The first incident had resulted in Vala decking the scientist in question before John got there to defuse the situation. Vala had received two weeks of community service as punishment. The three subsequent events he had averted disaster thanks to Carter being prepared for it and diverting Vala's attention before she could attack until John got there. Vala's community service had been spent helping oversee Ronon's kiddy martial arts classes. Todd had found Vala's reactions predictably hilarious.

That didn't mean, however, that the word hadn't gotten out to not piss-off Todd or Carter unless you wanted a woman with raging pregnancy hormones who was at 28 weeks pregnant now, coming for you. She had a tactical advantage too since no one would be willing to face Mitchell or Jackson if their partner or unborn child were harmed. It was also true for Todd and John, no one was that stupid after the attempted coup. So, instead, they moronically mocked Todd, or mostly Tunney did.

John stopped musing about the idiot science thief, as Rodney called him, and went to collect his thirty men and women. Mehra was practically bouncing for some action when John told her to get her ass to the core room. Teldy looked virtually predatory when she arrived. He also had Rikki meet him there, along with the troops. John informed his daughter that they were the first thirty to be getting the new uniform as they were going on their mission the next day.

Rikki hadn't put up a protest, just got the measurements for each person and input them into the system. Each person got 10 shirts and pants. Rikki told them that she didn't want to hear about their clothing needing replacement for at least a month and not to shoot each other because they weren't blaster or lightsaber proof. Before John could lead his team out, however, Rikki stopped him.

"There's one more thing that your people should take with you. I only just finished developing it and testing it," Rikki explained and led them to her lab. "I knew that as soon as you got word of a colony, you would be going for it, so I rushed completing it. Don't worry, they will work perfectly, but they have a collective fifteen-minute power life span before the power source needs to be replaced."

John eyed what looked to be the handle of a thin knife hilt as Rikki held it up and then pressed the knob and twisted it, to activate what looked like a plasma knife, "These are for either cutting through stuff like the bars of cells or they can be used as a dagger. However, since the hilt is so small, I couldn't fit the Mini ZPMs. Instead, I created a specialized power core. It only provides enough charge for fifteen minutes of collective use, mind, so you'll want to take a few cores with you. Bring them back and they can be recharged."

Rikki showed him how to turn off the laser knife, twist off the bottom, which could only be done when it was off, and then what the power core looked like. It was designed for speedy replacement. The core slid out and then you could slide another one in in seconds. Rikki handed over a box of the laser knives and a much bigger box that held a pouches with five cores each, "There are fifty pouches and fifty knives, so you there are enough for everyone and you will, with the cores already inside the knives, have a collective hour and a half each for the blades per person. The new uniforms already have a slot for the pouches." Rikki grabbed one of John's pants and showed them that the pouch fit perfectly into a secondary pocket in the front of his BDUs on the right side. There was also a hoop that the laser knife could clip onto.

"Neat. Are these going to be standard issue?" John asked.

"Eventually, but I wanted to make sure your people had it first," Rikki shrugged. Ronon took the box of cores while Teyla seized the laser knives.

"Well, I'm not complaining about these. Can you imagine how much faster escaping from a cell would be with these things?" Ronon asked.

"You won't need to carry your personal armory of knives on you anymore, Ronon," John joked as they departed after John gave Rikki a thank you hug.

Mehra looked at the knives and smirked, "It's like we've got our own Q for Atlantis, with your kid. I swear, I've never had so many fun weapons before this. Lightsabers, laser knives, blasters, staff weapons, bullet proof shirts, talk about the good equipment."

Ronon chuckled at that, "If Sateda had this kind of equipment, we would have wiped the plate with the Wraith. I have to wonder why the Ancients got their asses handed to them if they were anywhere near as smart as your kid."

"Lack of imagination. They were so focused on the science that they didn't understand that being innovative can often be more effective than building a bigger gun," John shrugged. "Just look at project Arcturus. They literally destroyed the planet they were trying to defend with their defunct weapon. Sometimes having the bigger stick doesn't work. Sometimes you need to stick with the most versatile and flexible stick. Arcturus would have blasted a hole through Hive without any ability to disable. But us, we can fire two drones, one takes out the hyperdrives, the other the sub-light engines and now that hive is a sitting duck that we can rescue humans, kids, and converts off of."

"Mercy is our greatest weapon against the Wraith. I am certain that it is only a matter of time before the Queens realize they have an alternative to death, if they wish it," Teyla observed sagely.

"It is more a matter of how long that is up for debate," Hawk spoke up. He rarely added to a conversation, but it was clear that he hoped to see the day when his people didn't destroy themselves just as much as Todd did.

"Right, well tomorrow definitely qualifies as a mercy mission, so everyone take it easy today. I want everyone in top shape. Make sure if your Wraithkin that you're eating plenty. I don't want anyone fainting on the mission," John ordered.

He followed Ronon and Teyla to the SpecOps's armory where they stored the equipment for their unit. The wall was lined with rows of lightsaber hits, singles or in doubles. No one in SpecOps used the staff variation. Another wall had the racks of their blasters. The place even contained their practice weapons, since those were considered somewhat dangerous. There was also the tack gear, though that would be getting replaced as soon as Rikki' people could manage the designs for it with the new material. The boxes of laser knives and their power cores were set to the side and then the armory was sealed shut.

Only members of SpecOps had access to the room. John watched Teyla and Ronon head off to, most likely, spend time with their kids. John would have loved to spend time with Rikki or Todd but that wasn't an option. The pair of them were busy working with Bran and Arthur to ensure that the Apollo was prepared for it's trip to the Milky Way. If the cloaking on the Apollo failed, or the shields, it could spell death for the entire crew if it occurred at the wrong point. The ship needed to be in pristine shape before it left for its mission.

Instead, John went to work on the paperwork that he normally avoided. It mostly consisted of his portion of handling the division of units. He and Jack had figured that it was going to be one of them on the Military seat and this had split the work, agreeing the other person would be their second in command. John was personally hoping that Jack lived a long, long time. Long enough to see his own grandchildren if fact. After several hours of sorting out military troops in terms of their occupational specialties and where they would be stationed rather than their initial countries of origin or military branches, John called it quits, and went to eat dinner. Todd sent John a mental assurance that he had eaten when he was supposed to, so John instead ate at the table with the Dex and Emmagan clans.

Since Rodney and Jenn were working still, William was with them as well. It was amusing to see how relaxed the boys had gotten over the past few months. William, Cooria, and Liam were joking around while the Teyla's boys were all happily eating their meals. He glanced at Teyla and she smiled at her boys before turning to John, her expression hardening a bit. They both knew that when they went to the colony, they had no idea how many children they would find, how many enslaved carriers, or even how many Wraith Worshippers.

They had spent the past months working out various plans depending on the size of the place. They didn't know anything beyond what the scout had provided. Given the fact that they hadn't known if the Wraith would use multiple gates to various dead worlds, which was what Atlantis had done, the scout who was on look out for the Colony Wraith messenger was to follow the messenger in a cloaked Jumper. This had proven to be a wise decision as the messenger went through two different dead worlds before going back to his colony.

Once they had arrived, Major Brown had sent an encrypted sub-space signal to Atlantis with the gate address and how far the gate was from the colony. Apparently, there was a light guard at the stargate, but it was on the planet. This meant that there would be no opportunity for a MALP. They would go in on three jumpers, piloted by John, Lorne, and Major Nakamura. Lorne and Nakamura had volunteered to join the to join SpecOps which had thrown John a little, but in a good way.

Lorne had proven capable, despite his naturally soft-spoken demeanor. It just meant that people underestimated him. Nakamura, much like his cousin, Dr. Kusanagi, had a killer instinct. If they started taking scientists on future SpecOps missions, McKay and Kusanagi were John's first picks. They, however, wouldn't be joining on this mission. John had two Wraithkin, Euthymius Wiseman and Meinrad Natureborne who were former Hive Clevermen turned SpecOps and they knew Wraith systems in and out. Even if somehow the colony used different technology, it should be similar enough for them to handle the differences. Meinrad was over seven thousand years old and John suspected that he was the one who would be the most familiar with the tech found on the colonies.

That night, when Todd curled in the bed John ran his hand over the baby bump and reminded himself that this was what he fought for. His mate, his children, the one almost grown, the one still developing, and those who would come in the future. He fought for something that to him was as tangible as the bed he lay on and as intangible as the heat from the star they orbited. The future was something not yet set in stone, which made it something he could carve for his family. It was, in John's opinion, his job to carve it into a path that provided safety to those who lived within Pegasus, his family was just a part of that.

The next morning, John was up early and just after eating and kissing Todd good-bye, he met the team going on the mission in the Jumper bay. He looked at them all. Each and every one present had hard, somber faces. After taking the group in, he spoke, "Alright, everyone knows their groups, you take orders from your group leader and you have your objectives. Remember, stun any Worshippers, kill any mature sires, locate the kids and carriers, and gather what intel they have on hives and other colonies. There's no point in keeping radio silence once we're in. If your group needs help, call for it."

"And one more thing," Keller spoke up as she entered the Jumper bay. "I would like for you to collect the enzyme sacks of the Wraith you kill. We need them to synthesize a treatment for those who are addicted to it."

There were a few rounds of winces from the reminder. A lot of the Worshippers they had retrieved from the hive ships were addicted to the enzyme. While those who survived proved reasonable once they recovered, few had survived the process of coming off the drug. John nodded, "As morbid as it sounds, Keller's right, if we don't want those that we've rescued from the Wraith to die of withdrawal, we need a treatment plan for them."

The Wraithkin among the team looked particularly grim, but John knew it was more that they understood the distain for the enslavement of Worshippers at all. Still, everyone nodded in understanding, "Right, everyone make one last check of your group's gear. As soon as you're good, head to your Jumper."

There was a rustle of noise as everyone ensured that their group's gear was all present and positioned correctly. Teyla went over John's before he returned the check. Ronon was with Lorne and John saw Hawk finishing his check of Nakamura. John entered his Jumper and began the initiation sequence as the others began filing onto the ship. John tapped his radio to connect to the other group leaders. They were in six groups of five, two groups to a Jumper, "This is Jumper One we are prepared for gate travel."

"_Jumper Two is ready," _Lorne's voice came over the radio.

"_Jumper Three is also ready,"_ Nakamura was the last to make the call, though it was just a pace behind Lorne.

"_Roger that. SpecOps, you have a go. Make sure you signal us when you're ready, we have the Phoenix and the Terra waiting on stand-by to transport all your rescues. Good luck,"_ O'Neill's voice cut in, telling John he had been listening in.

John didn't comment, he just piloted the Jumper down the hole that was now in the floor and watched as Teyla dialed the gate. The moment after the wormhole stabilized, John activated the ship's cloaking and sent them through the gate. On the other side, he could see two confused looking Wraith staring at the gate. Once the communications system indicated that the other Jumpers had gotten past the event horizon, John grimly launched three drones, two to take out the guards and one to take out the dialing device.

The only way off the planet now was using the Jumpers' dialing systems and without someone with an ATA gene in the pilot seat, the DHD on the Jumpers didn't work. John locked onto the location of the scout Jumper and the three Jumpers moved to join it. Once they set down, John followed the rest of the people off the ship and shut and cloaked it. He had a sensor on his arm band that would let he locate the ship later, as it did all the Jumpers.

This was, in fact, not an invention of Rikki's but rather one of the discoveries made when the tablets in Klingon gave instructions on how to use the provided crystals to set the Archival systems in Atlantis to rights. As it turned out, the Ancients _had _intentionally scrambled the systems, as well as removing a sub-routine that allowed for new languages being uploaded into the systems and using them for translation purposes. His mother had just given the keys to how to fix it to the Daganians. If they had passed the first test, Atlantis would have had _years _of far easier situations than they had endured. The archives even contained the exact details of how to create and charge ZPMs.

The two scouts joined them and filled everyone on what little intel they could get in the days they had been on the planet. The intel consisted of the information that the majority of the Worshippers, and there were hundreds of them, didn't appear to be on the enzyme, but rather intimidated into serving the Wraith. The scouts suspected that if the Worshippers saw that they were there to break them free, they wouldn't put up resistance. Then again, there were also Wraithkin in their group which would cause some confusion.

The hope though, was that the Worshippers would scatter rather than fight. John wasn't pinning much on that hope. Other than that, the only information that was avalible was that the Worshippers lived scattered about in the surrounding areas, farming food. The scouts had the suspicion that the Wraith had removed the control crystal from the DHD to prevent any escape attempts from the Worshippers.

The Wraith themselves were located in an underground compound. Given that it was dug into a mountain, John suspected that the place would be a catacomb. Meinrad confirmed that it was most likely the case. Once they had gotten the intel, John ordered the scouts to stick with the Jumpers and told them they would radio once they finished clearing the place of Wraith. The scouts could then signal the two Lantean ships to join them for clean-up.

With that, they moved out. One group went to the gate to ambush any Wraith attempting to flee the action, if they escaped. The rest stuck together as they headed to the entrance of the compound. As luck would have it, no Worshippers needed to be worried about as they seemed to completely evade the locations they lived by dumb luck on their way to the entrance to the compound. John signaled for Ronon and Lorne to take the lead into the underground complex.

Next, his group followed and then the rest entered. At the first split, Ronon's group took one other group with them, while John's had two following them. They encountered two individual Wraith, both going down quickly with the blasts through their upper torsos being lethal. Then, there was another split and John signaled to Nakamura to take his group down that route. Another Wraith and a split later and it was just John, Teyla, Meinrad, Mehra, and Teldy. John smirked at the knowledge that Teldy and Mehra had enough respect for the new unit to want to be part of it.

The next split, John noted that Teyla was cataloguing that they took a right on a hand-held device in case they had to double back at any point. The device was designed to track their movements, number of steps, changes in altitude, and such, all for the purpose of mapping out the complex for later use. Granted, this was just a prototype, but they had to field test it somehow. Six dead Wraith, two stunned and secured Worshippers, three double backs at dead ends, and they finally found one of their objectives.

They entered a hall lined with cells. Inside each cell, laying on a bed in what looked to be comatose states were pregnant Wraith, "Sheppard to group leads, we have located a set of cells containing pregnant carriers. I'm going to assess their conditions."

John got a series of rogers to the information and he pulled out the nifty little laser knife, since there were no obvious means of opening the cells. It was the work of half a minute for John to get into the first cell. He approached the carrier slowly, uncertain about the mental state John would find him in. He frowned as he took in the detail that the carrier's hair contained only about four inches of white hair, the rest was a vibrant green.

"Hey, we're here to rescue you," John cautiously attempted to wake him with a shake to the carrier's shoulder but got no response.

John frowned and then placed his hand on the carrier's forehead and entered his mind only to immediately jerk back and out of his mind. He felt sick to his stomach, and barely contained his urge to throw-up. He knew his horror had to be written on his face as he turned to Teyla and the others, "There's nothing there… His… his mind… there's no… nothing, no consciousness. It's… it's just empty… He's not alive… not really. That's just a shell, the body's _barely_ functioning."

He saw the looks of horror on the others faces. He quickly went on to the other cells, and though it sickened him each time, he checked, just to be certain and found the results were all the same. While the bodies were still functioning, the consciousness was completely gone, regardless of the amount of white in their hair. John knew that Keller would still want to test her new drug on them, to see if the damage could be repaired, but he likewise knew that it would be futile. The carriers were all functionally brain dead.

Teyla, John realized, was double checking and had turned ashen in color even as she checked the last one after John. She then spoke the fact that John hadn't brought himself to admit yet, "None of carriers can be more than thirty years old. Not with their hair color still being so visibly present with the white being such a short length. All the carriers on Atlantis that I have spoken with told me that while they were still in transition, their hair grew at what would be a third of our speed of our hair growth."

"Right, well, place the beacons. We may not be able to help these guys, but… their babies… those we might be able save at least," John felt the bile rise in his throat at the thought of these poor creatures, twenty-six to be exact, had never gotten a chance at living any sort of life.

They were just turned into living incubators for the profit of the sires that controlled the colony. It was less of a colony and more a horror show. John pulled the first small beacon and tucked it into the carrier's hand before the others broke off to follow his orders. The beacon was tiny, but powerful, a creation of Zelenka's after the man had learnt about what was happening on the colonies. The signal was sufficient to punch through miles of rock. Once their ships were overhead, the carriers could be beamed directly into the infirmaries on them as the beacon was turned to the red position, indicating critical condition.

Ronon radioed at that point "_Dex to group leads, we just found the carrier kids. They look to range from toddlers up to about fourteen, so, they are pre-feeding. We count roughly twenty-nine."_ John relaxed a little at the information. That was twenty-nine kids who were about to face a radical change in they lives, but who would have the freedom to mate and love where they wanted. Their fates would not be the same as those within the cells his group had found.

John's team moved on once they finished placing the beacons. If they were a little more vicious with killing the Wraith that they found present and a little heavy-handed with restraining the worshippers, John didn't mention it. After all, this mission might not be having any major hitches, but every instinct in John screamed that he had failed those brain-dead carriers in their cells. The next team to report in, announced they had located the nursery, which was tended to by a group of worshippers and contained twelve infants, five carriers, six sires, and one girl.

Ronon's group found the girls between ages one and six shortly after finding the carrier boys, there were nine. Nakamura's group got lucky and found the lounge that had six sires relaxing in it all at once. John felt an almost vicious envy of Nakamura's groups that they got to kill the lot. After that, one of the other groups found the cells containing the sire children ranging in age between one and ten, at their best guess, there were sixteen.

The hall John's group had taken after the carrier cells led them to hibernation pods, fifteen of them, all of them contained girls who looked to be around age six. That explained what happened to the girls once they hit age six. They were stored, to be held until they could be sold off for profit, at least the ones allowed to live that long. John could only guess how many were killed as soon as they were born, or had the pregnancy terminated as soon as the sires detected a female fetus. Still, twenty-four girls alive was far better than John had anticipated, given the information given.

The teams all double backed and checked every hall they found, ensuring the place was mapped and cleared thoroughly. The rooms where the sires slept were found, though none were in any of them. They also found a single computer terminal however it didn't contain anything beyond basic maintenance records of the complex. John sighed and relaxed as he realized they got the place cleared without any injuries, even minor ones. Hawk looked at John with a haunted expression, it was the first time that John really saw the guy show something he was feeling so blatantly.

"Please tell me you didn't go double check the hall with the carriers in them," John practically begged Nakamura to deny it.

However, his own grim expression told John that they had, "Hawk wanted to confirm what you found… I think he didn't want to believe…"

"None of us wanted to believe that they would be in a vegetative state," John growled out. "They're dead shells. There's nothing that can be done about that."

He then radioed the gate group who confirmed that there had been no activity around the gate at all. The scouts were next and within minutes, John was getting confirmation from the Phoenix and the Terra were in orbit. Once the ships reported that they had beamed up all life-signs surrounding the beacons, John had the groups make another search of the complex the ensure that no one was left behind. They also used this time to retrieve the requested enzyme pouches for Keller.

While they did that, the ships scanned the planet surface and beamed all non-Lantean life-signs remaining into holding cells on the ships. The Worshippers would be given the option of returning to the planet, with its non-existent DHD, they could be returned to their homeworld if they had one, or if not, they could be given their own unoccupied world.

John suspected that there would be a mixture of responses given when the ships reported that the planet surface was clear and that they had beamed over a thousand humans into the holding cells. He doubted any or many of them would want to come back here though They had caught another two Wraith sires that John suspected had likely been enforcing the sires' control over the worshippers. John ordered his team and the scouts to move out. He couldn't help the hollow anger at the shear emptiness he had found in the carriers' minds.

By the time they were back through the gate and getting off the Jumper's, John knew that most of the city had been aware of the mission's success, though John could hardly count it as such. He also realized that Todd had, of course, noticed John's anger and horror from the mission. His mate, husband, and love was waited in the Jumper bay. John threw any sense of caring about PDA to the wind and gave into his first instinct of hugging and then kissing Todd hard. In any other kind of situation, his behavior would have earned him wolf-whistles and jokes from the team.

When John pulled out of the kiss, he explained his anguish mentally, '_I get what you mean by carriers being unable to survive without their sires now. Their bodies… they were still breathing… but they were just shells…'_

Todd's response was a wave of absolute understanding. John couldn't guess how many Wraith carriers Todd had watched degrade in such a manner before putting them out of their misery. He suspected he didn't make them endure the loss of themselves for long though. Todd was honestly too compassionate for that. Todd clung tight to John before he sent his mental query, '_How many?'_

'_Twenty-six dead carriers, eighty-one kids, twenty-nine of them were carriers,' _John answered. He couldn't think of the empty shells as anything other than dead now. Yes, they would likely keep the bodies alive, if they could, until the babies inside them were to term or far enough along to deliver, but there was nothing that could be done for the carriers.

John went with everyone else for their post mission check-up, for a team that had a mission run almost too smoothing, they all wore grim expressions. John noticed that Keller, Beckett, and Lam weren't present, leaving the check-ups to the general doctors and nurses. Of course, that made sense given that they would want to first examine the carriers and then the children. John felt Todd following behind him, a silent wall of emotional support after his check-up to find Keller and her team of medical personnel.

He found them in the room they had set up to be a medical ward specifically for the carriers rescued from the colonies. Keller looked startled as she took in John's forced blank face. He spoke almost immediately, "They're dead. Yeah, the bodies are technically still alive, but they're brain dead. There's nothing there. If you can manage to transition them and keep them alive until the babies are born, I think that's all that is possible with this group. Once that's over, you have to cut life-support Jenn."

She looked positively horrified by the suggestion, "I have a drug, one synthesized from the research I did into the changes in chemistry brought on by the bond. You know it's effects. It can help them."

"If they had just lost their mate a few days or even weeks ago, yeah, I'm sure your drug would work wonders to help them… but Jenn… there's nothing left in these guys. I checked, Teyla checked, Hawk checked. They are barely alive as it is. I don't even… I know you want to test the drug on them to see if it will help, but I don't want you to think it doesn't work when its being used on shells that are functionally dead and it doesn't work for _them_," John knew his own horror and anguish was clear on his face now.

"You really don't think there's any hope for them?" Beckett asked softly.

John shook his head, "If I thought there was a sliver of a chance to help them, I wouldn't be telling you this. They're already dead. Focus on saving the babies. If the baby is close enough to term, deliver them now, before attempting to transition them. If it isn't, transition and hope the carrier survives, but I don't… they're bodies are already failing. Just save the babies if you can. It's the best you can do for them now."

Lam looked torn at the idea of having to choose to do such a thing. Jenn instead ordered one of the nurses to get her a portable scanner. John and Todd watched as the three doctors scanned all the dead carriers, horror becoming written on their faces the longer they examined them. John knew that the results were unlikely to be pretty. Keller ordered John and Todd to leave once the scans were done. John suspected that the people working in this ward weren't going to be sleeping tonight.

John called over the comms for all team members to report for a debrief. Jack was waiting in the war room when John got there and didn't comment on Todd's presence. Together they watched as the team arrived. John could see the haunted expressions on there faces as the two commanders of the ships arrived, Lt. Col Henri Bisset, the younger brother of the late Col. Bisset and the only person on his list, as the commander of the Terra, and Lt. Col. Huang Wu, as the new commander of the Phoenix, had done an excellent job of getting the jobs they were assigned finished swiftly and efficiently.

They looked as grim as everyone else present. Jack looked to John to start the meeting, "First off, I'm starting on the most important topic, I'm ordering everyone present here to have three sessions with a Nox therapist. If you fail to comply with this order, you will not be put back on active duty until the Nox say that you have attended those sessions and are cleared for active duty. After that, if the Nox recommend further sessions, I expect you to attend them. None of this bottling it up crap. Internalizing what we saw today is a bad idea. Yes, we all made it through the mission unscathed, but that place makes haunted houses look like happy, pleasant places to live."

There wasn't so much as a murmur of protest at the order, so John knew that everyone present had realized how much this was going to get to them if they didn't talk about it with the Nox therapists. It would likely still haunt them even after they had. The nice thing about the therapists was they were the Fort Nox of maintaining patient confidentiality, unless the patient was a threat to themselves or others, and thus virtually everyone in the city had come to rely on them for their emotional needs.

After giving that order, John went on to have everyone start listing numbers of the Wraith sires killed, Worshippers captured, kids rescued, and so forth. Bisset and Wu reported that the Worshippers taken from the planet were a mixture of terrified and absolutely relieved. Relieved to have been rescued by the Lanteans from their perpetual horror, but also terrified to learn that some Wraith had become Wraithkin and were now working with humans, therefore they weren't certain they could truly trust them.

John shrugged, it wasn't as if there was much that could be done about their fears until the people got back to their homes or found that they could live peacefully on a new world. John still doubted anyone would want to go back to the one they were rescued from. There was also the information that some of the Worshippers were, in fact, addicted to the enzyme. This made some sense to John, given that the sires would hardly allow uncertain or untrusted slaves handle the babies and young when those were their most valuable trading commodity.

When the numbers were all totaled, in addition to the twenty-six brain-dead carriers, there were 81 kids, 1,034 worshippers, 19 of which were addicted to the enzyme, 35 now dead sires, and the two living ones. John wasn't going to concern himself too much with the two living ones. That would be up to Jack to handle and John made that clear. He seriously doubted that the two sires were just going to turn over a new leaf, accept the retrovirus, and live peacefully with everyone. Once the debrief was done, John ordered the group leaders to have a report of their part of the mission by day's end the next day.

Once they left, Jack told John that he would have to have the therapy sessions too. John glared at Jack for that, "You really think I wasn't going to talk with a Nox therapist? I can't afford not to. My husband is pregnant and I'm not going to put undue emotional stress on him through the bond by failing to get what I saw off my chest. However, I'm going to do that tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to snuggle with my husband and thank every fucking lucky star in the sky that that wasn't _his _fate."

With that, John left, he knew that Todd was following him back to their suite. Once they were there, Todd got John to sit down on the couch present, and the moment Todd was sitting next to him, John's head was in his lap, nuzzling the baby bump. Todd didn't comment as he felt John's emotions slowly settle a bit even though John was basically swamping Todd with his sense of love and affection for him and the baby.

**AN: Yes, I know this chapter is super depressing and a bit dark. I always intended for it to be that way. Sorry if I upset anyone. The next chapter will be much more upbeat, well once you get past the first part. Yes, the carriers were essentially drugged and raped. **


	21. Chapter 21

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 22: Winds of Change

John could feel Todd's discomfort even before he fully woke up. As his husband neared his 40th week of pregnancy, just another two days to go, and Keller insisted on having Todd exactly at 40 weeks before delivering their daughter, his stomach and made it increasingly difficult for Todd to sleep well. This meant that, as a result, John got just as little sleep. It was the only real downside that John had found to their bond so far. Well, that and Rodney freaking out when he had seen Hawk breastfeeding his baby, named Yuki.

John didn't mind in the slightest that one of the side effects of the bond meant that he and Todd would _both _lactate and breastfeed their baby. It made sense in a way, even human males had mammary glands, it was just that they didn't ever get the chemical signals from the brain to trigger lactation, normally at least. The bond meant the John's did and he was actually a bit relieved by this.

One of the biggest fights he had had with Nancy was while Rikki was a baby. Nancy had been constantly exhausted at first because she had been bound and determined to breastfeed Rikki until she was one, convinced it was the healthiest option for her. John had argued to at least allow him to take over some of the nigh feedings so that she could rest more, using formula. The fight had finally been settled when John's father had given them a breast pump a month after Rikki's birth. It meant that John could give their daughter breastmilk, but also that Nancy would get the necessary rest.

The fact that John would be breastfeeding this baby, and the future babies, as well as Todd, meant that the possiblity of the argument had been completely avoided. Of course, that didn't mean that Rodney hadn't completely freaked out over the whole thing, blowing it way out of proportion and driving John bonkers in the process.

When Todd stirred, trying to adjust into a more comfortable position, John allowed his mate to shift his body to better support the bump. His thoughts then drifted over to all the events of the past months. Bitterwind had been better than her word. With the addition of her efforts to influence other hives and the process of the Lanteans destroying any hives that attempted to attack human and Wraithkin occupied worlds, seventeen more hives had submitted to the retrovirus. They had all agreed to it without even attempting to attack other worlds, instead approaching Bitterwind and getting the retrovirus make up and process from her Clevermen.

The population of the Wraithkin Hives, and the ten different worlds they occupied, was now at 37,648. In addition to this success, they had located another four breeding colonies. Three of them were massive just from their scouts' reports. They each had over sixty sires, over three hundred breeding carriers, hundreds of children, and thousands of Worshippers. Of the carriers, seven were in their first pregnancy and much like the youth found on the second breeding colony, responded, if very slowly at first, to Keller's drug treatment. In the end, the Wraithkin hives had moved onto those worlds, took in the children, and made an arrangement of mutual assistance with the worshippers, most of whom had been born into that life. The protection of the Wraithkin and access to better live styles, with medicine and comforts in exchange for food.

On the other hand, the pregnant carriers went to Atlantis, though little could be done for them. Keller's NICU had almost always been filled to brim with preemies for the past four months. The upside was that the population of Lantea, Human, Jaffa, and Nox alike had embraced the infants with open arms. The Jaffa in particular had taken to adopting the babies. The knowledge that they would one day be strong warriors appealed to them. There had been an early shock, just after Bitterwind's alliance had taken the retrovirus, when one of the Jaffa warriors that had joined the SpecOps, a young man by the name of Yu'tra, bonded with the rescued carrier who had been placed under his care when it became clear that the young Wraith had no clue how to care for himself.

Yu'tra was young enough at only 19 that the three-year age difference didn't make it weird and the bonding portion had taken a shorter amount of time, though Keller suggested that might have been because the carrier, who had been given the name Menelaus Goodfortune. It was probably for the best that the age of majority had been lowered to 16 though. Yu'tra was, in John's opinion, a good kid, and the couple was a little adorable, or it would be if John didn't feel a level of concern over Menelaus's behavior indicating that he was terrified of everyone who wasn't Yu'tra, Keller, John, or one of the Nox. Wraith Sires in particular would send him scurrying behind Yu'tra or whichever Nox he was spending time with that day.

Overall, though, the city, and world, were thriving more than John could have anticipated when Earth had been destroyed. The Apollo had made three successful trips to the Milky Way, each time bringing back allies. In addition to this three more of the Lantean ships had been brought into service, manned by the growing mixture of young Lanteans who were inspired to prepare for the fight against the Naari, Wraithkin, Travelers, and Jaffa. The Jaffa had, after a great deal of consideration, just the month before, requested being officially annexed into the official Lantean population, to the Tok'ra's annoyance.

Their alliances thrived too. With the newly established governing council settling more firmly into their roles each day, they formalized informal trade agreements of the past. Dr. Torres had excelled in her job as the representative for Lantea. Nancy had ended up falling in as her second and together they were a force of nature. John knew that at present they were organizing what was being dubbed the Interplanetary Coalition of Pegasus, which was being modeled on the United Nations that had existed on Earth. The first official meeting was anticipated to occur in a month's time.

Each planet would send representatives, be they the planet's leaders or their chosen negotiators. In addition to this, each of the Hives would have their Queens present, though they had, at Bitterwind's suggestion, collectively decided that John would be the official representative of the Wraithkin Hive Alliance, and their human populations of their worlds. John wasn't certain if this was because he was human and they knew that others would respond better to him or because he genuinely held their respect, but he felt a mild level of irritation at them for the decision.

It meant that the time he had _hoped _to spend enjoying the new baby and Todd time was now going to be filled with meeting with Wraithkin Queens discussing concessions that they would make in 'reparation' to the worlds that had once been fed on. These 'reparations' were similar to the assistance that they had given to the humans that lived on their worlds, i.e. the technology to locate the best locations for crops, the means of easily removing trees and their trunks from desired farm land using the beam from the darts and then being able to easily transport those trees to designated 'wood piles' for chopping, and setting up water systems for both irrigation and plumping, along with teaching the people how to maintain them.

John figured that this was actually a good method of attempting to make amends. There was nothing that could be done to return the lives lost but providing the people they once harmed with assistance going forward and helping up their technology for agricultural purposes would assist in population growth. That growth meant the people could produce more crops, raise larger families, and all around their populations would grow at a better rate. All this without causing them to advance too quickly, which the few surviving Tollan had been vocal against.


	22. Chapter 22

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: For the question about Bitterwind, no she was not previously introduced. Her connection to Todd, how she knows him, will be clarified pretty quickly in this chapter. I already intend for her to have this role, so enjoy.**

Chapter 22: Oh, Baby, Baby

John could feel Todd's discomfort even before he fully woke up. As his husband neared his 40th week of pregnancy, just another two days to go, and Keller insisted on having Todd exactly at 40 weeks before delivering their daughter, his stomach and made it increasingly difficult for Todd to sleep well. This meant that, as a result, John got just as little sleep. It was the only real downside that John had found to their bond so far. Well, that and Rodney freaking out when he had seen Hawk breastfeeding his baby, named Yuki.

John didn't mind in the slightest that one of the side effects of the bond meant that he and Todd would _both _lactate and breastfeed their baby. It made sense in a way, even human males had mammary glands, it was just that they didn't ever get the chemical signals from the brain to trigger lactation, normally at least. The bond meant that John's did, and he was actually a bit relieved by this.

It was one of the biggest fights he had had with Nancy was while Rikki was a baby. Nancy had been constantly exhausted at first because she had been bound and determined to breastfeed Rikki until she was one, convinced it was the healthiest option for her. John had argued to at least allow him to take over some of the night feedings using formula so that she could rest more. The fight had finally been settled when John's father had given them a breast pump a month after Rikki's birth. It meant that John could give their daughter breastmilk, but also that Nancy would get the necessary rest.

The fact that John would be breastfeeding this baby, and the future babies, as well as Todd, meant that the possiblity of the argument had been completely avoided. Of course, that didn't mean that Rodney hadn't completely freaked out over the whole thing, blowing it way out of proportion and driving John bonkers in the process.

When Todd stirred, trying to adjust into a more comfortable position, John allowed his mate to shift his body to better support the bump. His thoughts then drifted over to all the events of the past months. Bitterwind had been better than her word. With the addition of her efforts to influence other hives and the process of the Lanteans destroying any hives that attempted to attack human and Wraithkin occupied worlds, seventeen more hives had submitted to the retrovirus. They had all agreed to it without even attempting to attack other worlds, instead approaching Bitterwind and getting the retrovirus make up and process from her Clevermen.

The population of the Wraithkin Hives, and the ten different worlds they occupied, was now at 37,648. In addition to this success, they had located another four breeding colonies. Three of them were massive just from their scouts' reports. They each had over sixty sires, over three hundred breeding carriers, hundreds of children, and thousands of Worshippers. Of the carriers, seven total were in their first pregnancy and much like the youth found on the second breeding colony, responded, if slowly at first, to Keller's drug treatment. In the end, the Wraithkin hives had moved onto those worlds, took in the children, and made an arrangement of mutual assistance with the worshippers, most of whom had been born into that life. The protection of the Wraithkin and access to better live styles, with medicine and comforts in exchange for food were seen as reasonable terms for them, especially as there wasn't a risk of becoming the food added into the equation.

On the other hand, the pregnant carriers went to Atlantis, though little could be done for them. Keller's NICU had almost always been filled to brim with the preemies for the past four months. The upside was that the population of Lantea, Human, Jaffa, and Nox alike had embraced the infants with open arms. The Jaffa in particular had taken to adopting the babies. The knowledge that they would one day be strong warriors, highly intelligent scientists, or both appealed to them. There had been an early shock, just after Bitterwind's alliance had taken the retrovirus, when one of the Jaffa warriors that had joined the SpecOps, a young man by the name of Yu'tra, bonded with the rescued carrier who had been placed under his care when it became clear that the young Wraith had no clue how or capability to care for or defend himself. John hadn't wanted to take risks with the carrier's safety.

Yu'tra was young enough at only 19 that the three-year age difference didn't make it weird and the bonding portion had taken a shorter amount of time, though Keller suggested that might have been because the carrier, who had been given the name Menelaus Goodfortune, was already pregnant. It was probably for the best that the age of majority had been lowered to 16 though. Yu'tra was, in John's opinion, a good kid, and the couple was a little adorable, or it would be if John didn't feel a level of concern over Menelaus's behavior indicating that he was terrified of everyone who wasn't Yu'tra, Keller, John, or one of the Nox. Wraith Sires in particular would send him scurrying behind Yu'tra or whichever Nox he was spending time with that day.

Overall, though, the people of the city, and world, were thriving more than John could have anticipated when Earth had been destroyed. The Apollo had made three successful trips to the Milky Way, each time bringing back allies, mostly surviving Jaffa, and a few groups of Unas, who settled on Athos. In addition to this three more of the Lantean ships had been brought into service, manned by the growing mixture of young Lanteans, who were inspired to prepare for the fight against the Naari, Wraithkin, Travelers, and Jaffa. The Jaffa had, after a great deal of consideration, just the month before, requested being officially annexed into the official Lantean population, to the Tok'ra's annoyance. The Tok'ra saw it as an attempt to gain greater influence over Atlantis, although they themselves refused to live with the city.

Their alliances thrived too though. With the newly established governing council settling more firmly into their roles each day, they formalized informal trade agreements of the past. Dr. Torres had excelled in her job as the representative for Lantea. Nancy had ended up falling in as her second and together they were a force of nature. Nancy in particular seemed to have obtained a new lease on life, between her adopted son, a Wraithkin baby named Remus, and her work. John realized that she seemed to have even finally let go of their failed marriage, making their relationship much less tense. John also knew that in terms of her work, at present they were organizing what was being dubbed the Interplanetary Coalition of Pegasus, which was being modeled on the United Nations that had existed on Earth and primarily sourced from the original Coalition and their allies, only far better structured. The first official meeting was anticipated to occur in a month's time.

Each planet with a known government and agreements either with Atlantis, the Genii, or the Coalition would send representatives, be they the planet's leaders or their chosen negotiators. In addition to this, each of the Hives would have their Queens present, though they had, at Bitterwind's suggestion, collectively decided that John would be the official representative of the Wraithkin Hive Alliance, and their human populations of their worlds. John wasn't certain if this was because he was human and they knew that others would respond better to him or because he genuinely held their respect, but he felt a mild level of irritation at them for the decision.

It meant that the time he had _hoped _to spend enjoying the new baby and Todd time was now going to be filled with meeting with Wraithkin Queens discussing concessions that they would make in 'reparation' to the worlds that had once been fed on. These 'reparations' were similar to the assistance that they had given to the humans that lived on their worlds, i.e. the technology to determine the best locations for crops, the means of easily removing trees and their trunks from desired farm land using the beam from the darts, then being able to easily transport those trees to designated 'wood piles' for chopping, and setting up water systems for both irrigation and plumping, along with teaching the people how to maintain them.

John figured that this was actually a good method of attempting to make amends. There was nothing that could be done to return the lives lost but providing the people they once harmed with assistance going forward and helping up their technology for agricultural purposes would assist in population growth. That growth meant the people could produce more crops, raise larger families, and all around their populations would grow at a better rate. This in turn would help with cultural growth and a more natural advancement of technology for these worlds. All this without causing them to advance too quickly with weaponized technology, which the few surviving Tollan had been vocal against.

John likewise knew that for all their good intentions, the Genii would nitpick every bit of thing offered and demand more because they didn't need that and wanted more power instead. John had absolutely no intention of giving the Genii what they were likely to demand, weapons. Instead, he suggested to the council to offer to allow Genii children the opportunity to board in Atlantis and be educated there. It would have the duel effect of proving that the Genii were war mongers when they most likely would deny the offer and opening up the idea of better schooling for the IPC worlds. After all, if the Genii truly did want to advance their technology at a healthy rate, and not just develop more dangerous weapons, they would accept the opportunity to accept the education avalible to the Lantean children.

John also had another issue that derived a bit closer to home, that came from his frequent interactions with the Wraithkin queens, or rather three in particular. He noticed Todd stirring and decided that he might as well bring up the conversation now, rather than dwelling pointlessly on it. After all, just because they had access to each other's minds, didn't mean that they dug deep into the memories of their pasts and in Todd's case, those memories went deep. Still, this in particular was something that John would have appreciated knowing about before being blind sided with the information by Bitterwind.

"You're thinking too loudly," Todd grumbled as he shifted, clearly trying to get at an angle that he could push himself into a sitting position more easily.

"You know, coming from anyone else, that phrase makes no sense, but considering my thoughts can be heard by you… Well… can you blame me? Why didn't you tell me Bitterwind was your mother? Also, why do you guys both behave like you have absolutely nothing in common? She's your _mother,_" John grouched back as they both settled to lean against the back board of the bed.

"Because when I failed her, I was no longer worthy of her recognition. In truth, up until she and my younger sisters took the retrovirus, any time her hives encountered one that I was on, she attempted to destroy it. That is actually how I ended up in the Genii's prison. My mother successfully destroyed the hive, I was forced to flee in a dart… I made the mistake of landing on a Genii controlled world that Kolya had his claws in," Todd admitted.

That answered a good number of lingering questions John had on how Todd was captured by Koyla. He had known it was a sore spot, but not how much so it was, "How did you fail her so badly that she actively tried killing you."

Todd hesitated for a moment, "Steel Flower… She was my younger sister, the one I was closest too. She was only two hundred years younger than me and was likely Bitterwind's favorite child. She was a gifted queen, had earned her own hive, rather requiring Bitterwind to win one for her… Steel Flower chose me as her First Commander, against Bitterwind's wishes. While the hive was rightfully Steel Flower's, Bitterwind felt I was too young, too academic, too much a Cleverman, too much a carrier, not ruthless enough to be a First Commander. She recommended older, more wily Commanders but Steel Flower would not be convinced, and I was all too eager to prove my worth. We were both still very young, you see. I was only a little over 900 years old and Steel Flower was just over 700. For a little over 200 years we managed, but not well. Bitterwind was right. With an older, more experienced First Commander, Steel Flower would have been far better off, and I would have been better off as her Chief Cleverman. Still, we learnt as best we could until a far shrewder Queen saw our weaknesses for what they were.

"She persuaded Steel Flower and I that she wished to form an alliance of mutual strength with Bitterwind. The initial negotiations were to take place on our hive and then we would send for Bitterwind to finish them, if we deemed the alliance worth it," Todd paused.

"It was a trap? Teyla mentioned how you seized control of the Alliance you had with her help," John eyed Todd. He didn't add that Todd had named Teyla Steel Flower. He had used his own sister's name as a ruse, but than if she was his first Queen other than his mother, the name held real meaning to him, any hive he controlled with out a queen was perhaps Steel Flower's in spirit.

Todd nodded, "It was. I should not have left Steel Flower alone with so much older a Queen. As it turned out, the Queen, Red Poison, had a daughter who was old enough to take control of a hive. I had little interest in heeding such a queen though, one that killed my sister. So, I killed them. Red Poison was quite startled with this reaction. Most hives would not risk going without a queen. Our hive, however, wasn't most hives. The Commanders within it were loyal to me, not a Queen that had just killed our queen. After I assured them that I would acquire us a new one, they gave up any semblance of protest. We did manage to find another Queen, though I changed the name I went by, altered the marking that Bitterwind had once given me, so that the Queen didn't know who I was. Bitterwind's wrath towards me was already vocal. I had both failed my queen and then violated custom.

"For a few centuries, things went well enough, we were an auxiliary hive to a Queen who allowed for Hive Daughters. The Queen assigned to us was… easily influenced by me. However, eventually, Bitterwind found the hive and knew it. I abandoned that queen easily. She was little more than a pawn. From there, it was almost a game of hunter and runner for Bitterwind and myself. I would change my appearance as much as possible, find a new Queen to manipulate to my advantage, and remain with her until Bitterwind found me. She never failed to recognize my mind," Todd was rubbing his stomach now. "If I fled the hive quickly enough, Bitterwind would allow it to survive and attempt to capture me. Otherwise, it was destroyed."

"Well, she's not trying to kill you now," John pointed out.

Todd let out a bitter laugh, "Only because I have somewhat redeemed myself in her eyes. I have proven that I have learnt from my failures. The Queens I left behind were wiser, more cunning, more adaptable for their time under my manipulations. For the most part, that is why they allowed it. That is how I gained the name Guide of Wraith. I have been on so many hives, served so many queens, my influence over the whole has been felt. I have also done what Bitterwind feels is my proper place. I have submitted to a sire, a worthy one, a great leader in his own right, and resigned myself to working as a respected scientist, a Cleverman. I have given up being a Queen's second-in-command."

"But you're a warrior too. You know I won't stop you from fighting after Fianna is born, right? The only objection I have at present is the risks to her. I know you can hold your own against the best of SpecOps," John countered, putting his hand over Todd's the rubbed the mound where their daughter lay.

"I am aware of this. Bitterwind will not approve, but she holds too much respect for you, I believe. You have a mind and tactical brilliance that is greater than most queens. She knows that. Which is why, for all that it goes against the long-standing traditions of the Hives, she and the other Queens submit to you and see you as their primary. She will likely never forgive me for Steel Flower's death, I do not forgive myself for it, so how could she, but she at least recognizes that I am your carrier and you would not tolerate harm or disrespect towards me," Todd admitted. "In a rather ironic twist, most of the Queens who had submitted, were once hive queens that I was a First Commander too."

John chuckled, "So, what you're saying is that even though your mother and sisters aren't likely to reconcile with you, they still recognize that you're the main reason the Wraithkin have an alliance of hives that far exceeds the size of any other Hive alliance in existence at present?"

Todd nodded, "This is one point that I am sorry for, though. Traditionally, when a Carrier that was born of a Queen, or a Queen who was born of a Queen, has their first daughter, their mother will attend the birth to recognize the child as of her offspring. The child is presented with a gift. A symbol of her connection to her grandmother and her lineage, as you would call Bitterwind. I am the oldest of Bitterwind's living children, and yet Fianna will not have that recognition."

John smiled sadly, kissed Todd's cheek, and then moved to where he could mentally sense their daughter's head was and kissed the part of Todd's belly over it, "It's her loss if she doesn't recognize her granddaughter. Fianna will never endure what you did. We both know that children make mistakes. As long as they learn from them, and what they did wasn't outright evil, we forgive them for the mistakes and teach them how to avoid making them in the future. As for what happened to Steel Flower… Todd you shouldn't blame yourself for that. Steel Flower was fully grown, not a child, not still in transition. You lacked the experience, by your own admission, to know better than to leave her with an untrusted Queen. You didn't kill your sister. You made a mistake, I'm sure it's one you have learnt a lot from and would never make a second time. What's more, you didn't just sit back and follow your sister's murderer's orders. You killed the bitch who did it. Which, as far as I'm concerned, Red Poison had it coming. You should forgive yourself, even if Bitterwind will never forgive you."

Todd snorted bitterly at that, "The majority of the time you are as ruthless and as sure as any Wraith Queen. So much so that on occasion, I forget that you hold far too much compassion for others to have been raised Wraith." He wriggled his body to the edge of the bed with that and made his way to the bathroom, making it clear that the conversation was over.

John shook his head. He knew better than to push the point now. John seriously doubted Todd had ever really purged the story of what happened between him, his sister, and his mother before now, and even what he told John was a seriously abbreviated version, given that the events had been occurring for over more than nine thousand years. A marriage of less than a year to John wasn't going to do much in the way of soothing that festering wound.

Todd sighed in relief the morning of the planned C-section. Granted, he couldn't eat before the process, per Keller's orders, but soon his daughter, Fianna Ata Sheppard, would be out of him, and over a few hours, his body would repair itself from the distortions created from carrying her. Furthermore, for all that he bore his daughter a great deal of affection, as he had developed for Rikki as well, who was as clever as Todd himself was, he longed to have his mobility back and to show those of SpecOps that for all that he was a Carrier, he was one that was fully capable of holding his own against any sire, human, Wraithkin, or Jaffa, with ease.

Keller had, in an act of mercy, scheduled the C-section to take place first thing, with the promise of food for Todd afterwards. John had, thankfully, not brought up the matter of Bitterwind again in the past two days, but Todd still felt the tension in his body at the knowledge that she would not be there to acknowledge his daughter. To accept the name they chose for her, though John and Todd had kept the choice quiet. Rikki's middle name had been Sorcha, which was the name that John's mother had taken when she had de-ascended and married his father. However, her name Rebecca was chosen by Nancy and was biblical. In contrast, Todd and John had chosen a stronger name for their child, Fianna was a feminine variant for the Gaelic for the term used for 'band of warriors', and Ata, in addition to being the true name of John's mother, it also had the Arabic meaning of 'gift'. Thus, the name implies she was the gift of a band of warriors or a gifted leader of a band of warriors, which Todd rather liked. It was a reminder that she was a symbol of united strength.

Todd allowed himself to be helped onto the medical bed by John after he had changed into the hospital gown that Keller had provided him with. John was bedecked in medical gear, his hair even covered in the odd hat thing that the nurses were also wearing, though he explained that it was to keep his hair from getting into the incision, which would be bad.

Todd found the idea ridiculous, given that he couldn't get an infection, due to his regenerative abilities, in fact, he would be fully healed within a few hours of the c-section, with no physical evidence of it or the pregnancy occurring, beside their daughter's existence. Keller appeared in the room, clearly prepared for the surgery, along with Beckett and the two 'OBGYNs' that had been learning of Wraithkin carrier pregnancies, though Dr. Perrel was the one that Todd was more familiar and comfortable with given his earlier consultations with Keller. This wouldn't be their first delivery of a child of a carrier. However, it would be the first of a hybrid child, one that was part Wraithkin, part human, and part Alteran.

Just as Keller and Beckett were about to begin, with the two others observing, there was a commotion outside the operating room. John stood and gently clasped his hand on Todd's shoulder, "I'll see what's going on. Don't start without me."

He was almost at the door when there was a crash and Bitterwind and Semper were forcing their way into the room. John immediately put himself between Todd and the potential threat, though Todd knew he was frozen in shock. This wasn't about threatening him just as he had his child, this was about tradition, one that Bitterwind had apparently decided to honor after all.

Todd felt his mother mentally address John before she started speaking, "I made a point of informing you of my connection to Todd so that you would know I had a right to be here, so why do I find myself being barred from attending the birth of my own offspring's first daughter? This is a tradition that has been maintained since long before my own birth much less yours, and it will be honored here. He is my eldest living offspring, as well as the best I have ever produced."

John immediately held up his hands, though it was more placating than it was in surrender, "Okay, there appears to be some sort of misunderstanding here. We were under the impression that you wouldn't _want _to attend our daughter's birth. However, as long as Todd is _happy _with the idea, I have no issues with you being present for your granddaughter's birth. Todd?"

He sent a wave of acceptance to both of them, unable to vocalize his wishes, but also not willing to pass up the opportunity of reconciling with his mother in some form. John nodded his understanding, "Well, he clearly wants you present, so I don't have an issue with it. However, there are certain procedures that need to be observed. Jennifer?"

Keller sighed before turning to a nurse, "Go get the surgical gowns and hair covers for them. Guess grandma and grandpa are staying."

The nurse left for a moment before coming back in and getting the pair into the gowns, though they only did so reluctantly. Keller held up her hand before they approached, "You don't hold the baby until after you've thoroughly scrubbed up. Daddy and Papa get to hold their daughter first. Then we will weight her and scan her, make sure she's perfectly healthy, which I'm sure she will be, then, and only then will you get to hold her, understood?"

Bitterwind looked sour over this but gave a stiff nod. With that satisfied, she and Semper shifted around the operating table and took Todd's other side. Bitterwind placed her hand on Todd's shoulder and eyed the hand that John was holding, though made no comment on it. Todd felt himself relaxing a little. Traditionally, it was the sire that removed the child from the carrier, this was why, do to the possible the event of some difficulty, another, trusted, Wraith would attend the birth. Their job was to, if there was a risk to the carrier's survival, provide the necessary 'Gift of Life' while the sire cared for their offspring. In the cases where the child was their first female, and the carrier was the child of the Queen, this position was always preformed by the Carrier's mother.

Bitterwind was making it clear that if she had still had her feeding hand, she would save Todd's life if there was a complication. She was telling him that she considered him her offspring once more. Todd resisted the urge to clench too tightly at John's hand when the pain of the first incision was made. There were far greater pains that Todd had endured and this was at least worth every nerve ending being enflamed.

Keller and Beckett were quick and efficient, not wasting any time and ensuring that the wounds did not attempt to close while they extracted his daughter. As soon as they got Fianna out and the cord cut, Keller quickly removed the afterbirth. Once it was extracted, they made sure the seams of the incisions made were aligned properly and watched as each stage of incisions healed itself properly. Todd felt the pain of the process eb away as Keller handed over their wailing daughter to John who had a tender smile on his face. Todd could recognize the look of absolute love, unconditional love, for their daughter on John's face, even without the need to sense his feelings through the bond, though the sense of it was nearly overwhelming.

John handed their daughter over to Todd and Todd froze, "Her hair… it is violet…"

John chuckled in amusement, "We knew that the genetics mixed together might get a few weird results. It's probably brought out latent red pigments from Bitterwind. I think it's cute."

Todd relaxed. It was a logical point. He knew Semper's own carrier progenitor had had the blue that Todd possessed. He had also made a study of human genetics and how they worked. The alleles for hair color were particularly complex with them and some of Todd's younger, carrier brothers had also had violet hair. Instead, he focused on the rest of his daughter's appearance. Her skin tone was neither the coloring of a Wraith's or the pale pinkish of a human's but rather an extremely light, pale, almost white, blue. It also lacked the stiffer, glosser appearance, but more resembled a human's than a Wraith's in texture. Her eyes, when she blinked them open at her fathers, were a bright, vibrant yellowish green, with the slits that appeared to indicate that she would have exceptional night vision from her Wraith heritage.

Todd also pointedly checked her hands, to ensure there was no feeding apparatus. Though the scans showed no signs of one, and the retrovirus seemed to have eliminated it from his genetic code, Todd wanted to ensure that there weren't latent genetics that would bring it forth again in future generations. He relaxed when her hands showed no present seam, indicating the presence of a feeding hand. Reluctantly, he allowed Keller to take Fianna back and bring the baby over to a scanner. Then, she weighted her before bringing her back.

Keller smiled brightly, "Perfectly healthy, and pretty damned cute looking too. I think I like the increased variety in hair colors in the city. It makes the place feel more alive. The purple looks good on her."

"Yeah, it does. She's going to be a real heartbreaker when she gets older," John responded with his voice laden with affection.

However, Todd could sense Bitterwind's growing agitation. If this were occurring on a hive, she would have been the first to hold Fianna. Todd sent a mental request for her to come over to take her grandchild. John tensed but didn't stop it. Todd did notice that John was watching her like a hawk as she carefully cradled Fianna's head. Semper pulled something out from a pocket underneath his surgical gown and handed it over to her.

Bitterwind gave her granddaughter a crooked smile, "Her mind is exceptionally strong even now. She would be a great Queen, one that would instill fear into the hearts of other Queens. You chose your mate well. What is her name to be?"

"Fianna Ata Sheppard," John answered.

Bitterwind narrowed her eyes as she sounded out the name, "Fee-ah-na, and what does this name mean? I understand the names chosen by humans always have a meaning."

"Fianna is the feminine of Fiann which means band of warriors. Ata means gift. Together, the name means gifted leader of a band of warriors," Todd went with the definition that he knew would most please Bitterwind.

Bitterwind nodded approvingly, "A strong name for a strong Queen, it is fitting. To my eldest surviving offspring's first daughter, I gift her with my progenitor carrier's favorite hair binder. He was a strong, wise Cleverman, may Fianna Ata Sheppard be so wise as he once was and take wisdom from this gift." She held up a silver, ornate, long, thin tube that Todd recognized as from the things she had kept stored safely away as gifts for her first granddaughters. She then gently placed it in Fianna's flexing hand and curled her hand around it.

John clearly didn't understand the significance of the gift, but Todd did and felt it fully. The possession of a Queen's source was a prized gift to receive for a granddaughter. She handed Fianna back to Todd, "You should have returned to me when Steel Flower died. My ire would not have been so great towards you if you had. That you continuously went to other Queens than me, gave them guidance where you should have been the First Commander for one of your sisters, of course I ensured those Queens felt my wrath. You are and always will be _my_ offspring, do not forget it again." With this, she pressed a shocking kiss to Todd's head, causing him to freeze for a moment.

The moment passed and Bitterwind nodded to John, "Do not expect him to remain so complacent and obedient now that he is no longer carrying a child. My son has always altered the perceptions of how things should be to others." With this, she swept from the room with Semper, leaving a group of stunned medical professionals, John feeling relieved, and Todd feeling completely overwhelmed.

The silence was broken by Beckett, "Right, well, I'm not entirely certain what that was all about, but that's a lovely gift for her granddaughter, I think. Something of great sentimental value, I'd wager. I would make sure to put that somewhere safe for Fianna if I were you. It's a lovely name you picked out too. A good means of honoring your heritages."

Keller smiled next, "Well, I thought it was sweet, though I clearly don't know everything that was going on in that conversation. I had no idea that Bitterwind was Todd's mother. If I had, we could have avoided the dramatics of her bursting in like that."

"It was an old misunderstanding brought on by a lack of communication. I'm sure we'll be able to settle things properly with her later. Todd just didn't think she would want to be here," John offered vaguely.

Todd forced himself to process the information he was now in possession of as Keller transferred him to a clean bed in the main infirmary, Todd gave Fianna her first feeding, and then they announced people could come in and visit. A nurse brought Todd a tray with a hardy porcuboar and tuttle root stew in it to eat. Rikki had been waiting impatiently off to the side of the infirmary with her friends and produced a massive, stuffed porcuboar for Fianna, "Of course, this is only the first gift, wait till you guys see the nursery. It was a bit of a time crunch as we put the finishing touches on it, but we got done early this morning before Fianna was officially born."

"I am not certain what this is for. This stuffed creature is larger than Fianna," Todd admitted.

"Oh, it isn't for her to play with now, it's for when she's a bit bigger and can appreciate it properly. Every baby needs their stuffy," Rikki responded chipperly. "She and you guys will appreciate the nursery way more. We only just finished the last of it this morning because we had some difficulty with the wallpaper. We're going redo Remus's room next week now that we figured it out. Nothing but the best for my baby siblings."

John chuckled, "Well, we appreciate the effort you've made, even though we have no idea what you did with the room."

"It's supposed to be a surprise! Of course, you don't know," Rikki did a neat little imitation of Rodney with her huff.

With this, Rikki settled in a chair and got in a little bit of snuggles with her little sister before returning her back to Todd as more people arrived.

The next to arrive was John's former team and company. Rodney produced a basket of stuffed toys that resembled small farming animals, announced what they were and then handed them over to John. Teyla produced the first useful present, what looked to be a hand-crafted rattle, "Kannan spent a great deal of time carving it. The writing carved into it is in Ancient and it is an old Athosian blessing. 'May the Ancestors guide your path and ensure those you encounter are true of heart.'"

Fianna watched the rattle as John shook it for her and then let her take it in her empty hand, the other still clutching the gift from her grandmother. Ronon produced another useful gift. Two specially designed carriers for Fianna, "So, you can hold her and work at the same time. One's sized for John, one for you." Ronon told Todd.

Jeannie produced something nice as well, "It's not made of the same material as the new uniforms, so it isn't as durable, but they are extremely durable, and easier to clean and more comfortable, which is necessary for a baby. The fabric won't stop a bullet, but knives and feeding hands won't stand a chance against it, plus it isn't as likely to tear." She explained as she held up the baby clothing that she made for Fianna in sizes that would carry them for up to a year in theory.

Zelenka gave them a CD of music that had been recorded on another world. It was, Todd had to admit later when he listened to it, beautiful music, for all that he didn't recognize the instruments. After that group left, Windwhip and Silverclaw arrived. Silverclaw gifted Fianna with her first dagger, which was traditionally given when a Queen safely survived her transition, but given that Fianna would never have one, it could be considered appropriate to give it now. Windwhip presented Fianna's first wristband, clearly crafted to match with Todd's grandcarrier's hair binder, and intended to be worn when she was a little older.

As they were the two eldest of his sisters, these were, by right's, their gifts to present. Todd once more felt keenly the message in these gifts, they said they were still his sisters, for all that they had not grown up seeing his fighting prowess and cunning wit. They also gave their niece a kiss on the forehead and a pointed reminder that he owed _their _daughters the proper gifts as well. He had every intention of giving them too. After that, there was a mixture of various people from both SpecOps and the labs dropping off token gifts, children's tales from their lands of birth, trinkets, stuffed toys, more than a few brought Todd diapers and baby wipes, to his bemusement.

Vala was among the last to arrive, delayed by caring for her baby boy, James Cole Mitchell-Jackson, and presented Todd with a hand croqueted blanket that she had made with careful instructions from Cam's mother and grandmother. The blanket was black, with the point of origin symbol for Lantea carefully croqueted into it in a pale blue. It was clear that it was a gift that she had likely spent the last several months working on for Todd and the sentiment held value to Todd for that effort.

Finally, after two more feedings, one by Todd and one by John, Keller scanned Todd and declared him fit to leave the infirmary, though she pointedly told him he was to take it easy for the next week, to his annoyance. The mountain of gifts were ferried by Rikki and her friends back to their quarters. Rikki bounced in excitement as they put everything down in the living area of the suite. John held Fianna and watched as Rikki moved over to the door that she had intentionally kept sealed against all outside her little group the past few months, unlocking it for them.

John scanned around the room curiously and wondered what special features were hidden in the room. On the surface, it looked like a rather bland looking baby's nursery from Earth. Three walls were of an off-white wallpaper while the fourth was lined with bookshelves, where the windows weren't, a dresser, and a changing table.

John knew there was more to it than the surface, especially given the number of times he had interrupted Rikki and her friends debating how to improve the wall circuitry or make something compatible. Rikki led them first over to the crib. It had, by far, the most obviously modernized features. The screen built into the side held the same information that was contained on the bassinets and such in the NICU for starters.

"Right, so, first, you put Fianna down in the crib and we'll show you how everything works," Rikki announced.

John eyed her before following the instructions. As soon as Fianna's back was on the mattress, the screen began putting out information. Rikki explained, "Now, the basic design is based off what I made for Dr. Keller. The mattress takes Fianna's vitals like heartbeat, breathing, temperature, and audio to determine if she's in destress. However, there are a lot of features that this crib has that the ones in the NICU don't have. Now this icon indicates neural stimulus."

Rikki pressed it and a list appeared, "There are, of course, a verity of options and we can always program new ones in for you if you want. The ones here already have three different settings. The first is just the mobile setting."

She pressed the first option for it, which said space. Immediately, the Lantean solar system was being holographically projected over Fianna's head. She then cycled through a few of the options, dinosaurs, atoms, jungle plants, cartoonish animals. She then moved on, "The second one adds audio stimulus, but it's intended to be soothing for Fianna."

The second setting for space added instrumental music, which John was fairly certain came from Star Trek. After that was thoroughly demonstrated, the dinosaur one had Jurassic Park music, making John was rolling his eyes at his eldest child. The third setting revealed what Rikki and her friends had been working so hard on, "Okay, that is cool." John admitted as the wallpaper on the walls turned out to be continuous screens. The space setting turned them black and the ceiling too, John realized now, and essentially turned the room into a space dome, showing the constellations as they would be visible from the city. The dinosaur setting had several options, one for each continent and their corresponding animal and plant life.

"This entire room appears to be designed to stimulate neural development," Todd observed.

"Yep," Rikki responded before turning off the extras for development connected to the system built into the crib. "That's not all though. This feature here allows you to track Fianna's feedings and diaper changes, any concerns you might have with regarding those. This one monitors the room's environmental controls. Its designed to keep the room exactly between 68 and 72 degrees and monitor Fianna to see where she seems most comfortable with the temperature in that range. This will help her sleep more easily without putting her at an increased risk of SIDS. This feature, in addition to monitoring her vitals, will send an alert to both your room and the infirmary if it senses something's wrong with her breathing, heartbeat, or she experiences a temperature spike. And last, but certainly not least. This feature is designed to recognize if the city is under siege from hives or other threats. If the city's shields go up and Fianna is inside the crib, it erects it's own personal shields. Now, you two, Mom, Keller, and me and my friends are currently the only ones who can override the shields, incase she needs to be fed or something, but you can add other people to that list. So, just incase Wraith or Naari get inside the city, she will be safe from immediate harm from them."

"What if they damage the controls? Will it lower the shield or lock it on?" John asked in concern.

"It will lock them on, _but _not to worry, because there is a secondary control panel that can be used to deactivate the shield on the underside of the crib that can be revealed if you shift the panel covering it. It's the third panel from the right side and five down from the head. It looks identical to the rest so don't forget that. Also, there are also environmental controls built into the crib, so CO2 filtration, and it's self-contained, so even if they released a neurotoxin into the room, Fianna will be perfectly safe. Oh, and we installed a venting system designed to detect any dangerous fumes or chemicals in the room. If it does, it will raise the shield, vent the room, and circulate clean air into the room," Rikki looked proud of herself.

"You really went full overkill when it came to designing this room. No wonder it took so long to finish," John commented, though the knowledge that so many protections were intentionally built in, did make John feel a little safer. "How did you power it, is it plugged into the city's grid?"

"Yes, but it also has a backup power source in case someone tampers with the main systems," Rikki smirked. "Each of the corners has a built in Mini ZPM. The system will draw from each individually if the power of the city goes out for some reason."

John nodded. This was definitely an impressive nursery. Todd looked thoroughly pleased, "This is excellent. I doubt there is a way to have designed a better room for Fianna. Might I ask what that oddly shaped chair in the corner is for?"

"It's a rocking chair. You know, for when you're feeding Fianna. Oh, that's right, that has features too. So, this button here indicates who is feeding her. The green is Dad, the blue is Todd. The first press activates a timer, the second one stops it and that way you can time how long she fed for and the mattress has a scale built in to monitor her weight. So, after every feeding, it measures her weight compared to what it was before she was taken from the crib and you can get a number on how much she ate. There's also bassinet versions for your offices that I made with the same data gather that gets sent back to the crib, so you can monitor day and night. Mom's nursery for Remus has all the same features, by we've been installing them as we finished them there. The last thing is the wallpaper for his room."

John couldn't help hugging Rikki in a bear hug, "You're the perfect big sister, you know that?"

"My friends helped too," Rikki protested.

"And they are awesome honorary siblings too, but you did this just so your baby sister and brother could have better than the best that ever existed before. I don't think the Ancients had something this good for their babies," John couldn't help the affection he felt for Rikki for the effort she had made for Fianna and Remus.

"Well, they did have holographic mobiles, but those only had atoms programed for them. Seb spent _weeks _working on the programing for that to modify it in his spare time," Rikki countered.

"And I thoroughly appreciate every ounce of effort you guys made for Fianna," John said with another squeeze before giving hugs to Seb, Amelia, Tom, and Jeff. "Seriously, this is the best baby gift possible."

Rikki beamed, "Yeah, now we just need to work all the designs into toddler beds for Teyla and Uncle Dave."

"I'm sure they would appreciate that, yes," John admitted with a chuckle.


	23. Chapter 23

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Sorry for the delay, I got a bit of writers block with this chapter.**

Chapter 23: A Political Dance

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity in which John felt he got next to no sleep. He alternated feedings with Todd for Fianna, but she needed to eat far more frequently than a human baby did. Jennifer noticed John losing weight too, due the feeding, something he hadn't anticipated, and thus, he found himself being forced to eat more meals to compensate for the nutrients that went to Fianna rather than him. Jennifer also prohibited him from eating any fish or shellfish, as it was a known food that Wraithkin couldn't handle and there was a risk that Fianna's body wouldn't take it well, even in milk form. That wasn't too difficult, since John found himself craving the high nutrient, high calorie foods that the Wraithkin favored anyway.

It was lucky that there was so many fat, herbivorous wildlife on the mainland that had delicious tasting meat. The Wraithkin required protein rich diets and John found he needed to same while breastfeeding his daughter. On top of all that, John spent massive amounts of time working with the Wraithkin Queens. John and Todd had taken turns alternating who took Fianna for the day, the other pumping their milk to supplement the other's and dropping it off at regular intervals. Any extra milk, which there did end up being some every few days, went directly to the NICU for the Wraithkin preemies.

The Queens didn't bat an eye when John breastfed Fianna during their meetings, to his relief. In fact, they gave him nods of approval. The little portable bassinet Rikki had made was fantastic because it was self-rocking. Todd's body had, as was expected for a Wraith or Wraithkin carrier, snapped back to its pre-baby form, to Vala and Sam's annoyance and jealousy. That said, they could use all the advantages that were available when caring for their daughter. John began to suspect that, in addition to the chemical created to protect the Carrier's mind and strengthening the sire, the bond was also for allowing them to communicate when they were too exhausted to vocalize things because the baby was draining them of energy, both figuratively and literally, considering the amount of calories she sucked from John each day. It was also abundantly clear why both partners in a bond lactated. Their babies required way too much milk to be satisfied with just one parent feeding them.

The oddest part of all of it was that John found himself being given deferential treatment from the Queens. He could only guess at it being that Bitterwind being the primary of the hive alliance of Wraithkin and his technically being her son-in-law. It was the only explanation he could reasonably come up with. Still, if it meant they took his advice to heart about making 'reparations' than he would take what he could get.

The morning of the official first summit of the Interplanetary Coalition of Pegasus saw John in his new military uniform along with the other SpecOps personnel. The patches had been modified as well. Where once there was a patch for the flags of home nations and one for the expedition, there was now a patch for Atlantis and one for SpecOps. The SpecOps patch was a simple design of a lightsaber crossed with a blaster. The badge for all other military personnel was the old stylized A that the SGC had once had for their uniforms of program members. It was a marker that what they fought for was to ensure what had happened to their homeworld would never occur again.

Jack stood next to John with his new uniform baring that patch. On John's other side was Todd, with Bitterwind and Silverclaw on his other side. While they had still been in the planning phase, Dr. Torres had made a point of informing every planet attending that there would be Wraithkin present, both at the summit and within the city at large. That said, Bitterwind and Todd agreed that it would be wise to limit the number that participated in the summit to the three of them and John. Teyla and Ronon were technically going to be running security with some other Wraithkin among those who were part of the team, but none of them were going to be participating in discussions.

John and the others watched from the balcony over the stargate as delegation after delegation arrived, each planet was allowed to send parties of up to five. There were plenty of familiar faces. Ladon who came with four guards. The group from M7G-677, aka Neverland, sent the obvious options of Keras, Aries, and Neleus along with the less obvious options of Cleo and Casta. The two youths had acted as guides for Rodney on their first trip to the planet, however they were also only twelve now, meaning they were likely to be the youngest participants of the summit. John just hoped that they were smart enough to realize how much they would stand out as it was and didn't do anything compromising. Keras, Aries, and Neleus were all rather young, by most of the delegates' standards, but Keras and Aries were both at least old enough to not cause too much discomfort.

The Daganians had unsurprisingly sent Allina and Sanir along with three other members of the priesthood that John recognized by sight, though not name. The group pointedly bowed to John's group, making him a little uncomfortable. Still, he gave a nod of greeting as they were led to the transporters by a designated guide. That those guides were also the trainees of SpecOps, but the young ones who had work to do before being fully fledged members was intentional. Even the weakest of his trainees could handle a Genii fighter, much less anyone else, like the delegation from M4D-058, the world that had had accidental interference from John and Rodney playing what they thought was a game due to the Ancients' stupid experiments.

In the scramble to get everyone protected, they had lowered the space gate to the planet for the people, set them up with a manufactured DHD, and the standard shields. The people of the world had been grateful for the opportunity to trade with other worlds, though they were careful, after their prior experience with off-worlders. Still, Baden and Nola were apparently eager to settle into the more active Coalition. The pair had opted to come with a single aid each from their small nations and they waved in passing as Jinto led them from the gate room.

"You sure are popular," Jack commented.

"That comes with being the head of a first contact team," John shrugged. "I'm sure you got just as many pleased greetings whenever you guys went somewhere that you'd been before."

"From the Asgard, sure. Anywhere else? Not so much. Daniel was mister popularity. Women threw themselves at his feet. Unas painted his face blue. I swear, he may have been the outcast back on Earth, but in the rest of the galaxy, Danny was a rock star. Everyone wanted a piece of him," Jack responded dead-pan.

"Why would females throw themselves at Dr. Jackson's feet?" Silverclaw asked in curiosity. John had seen her eying the Mitchell-Jackson-Mal Doran group and with plenty of curiosity. He really hoped that she didn't want a piece of Mitchell or Jackson. Vala would get feisty and now that she wasn't pregnant anymore, she was more than up to her old antics. "And why would an Unas paint his face blue?"

"The first one is an expression. It means that women find him attractive and were desperate to engage in intercourse with him. The second one is a ritual that the Unas perform meaning that they recognize an outsider as part of their tribe," John explained.

Jack just gave bother Queens an incredulous look, "I get not knowing the Unas thing, but how did you not learn some human phrases by now? It's been months of interacting with us now."

"We are not typically discussing topics of intercourse when we are on Lantea, Gen. O'Neill. As you have frequently been a participant of our meetings on tactics and handling the Wraith Hives, I would have presumed you would be aware of this," Bitterwind responded icily.

"Right… well, I am going to head to the conference hall," Jack announced before retreating, clearly not anticipating the sudden hostility.

John chuckled and shook his head, "There are only a few more groups. We should head over to the hall as well." All three Wraithkin nodded in agreement at the suggestion.

By the time they reached the transporter, O'Neill had clearly already used it. John waited for the others to file into the transporter before activating it. The area chosen for the conference hall had, by everyone's best guess, been a theater of some sort. Either that or an auditorium for lectures. Either way, it would serve their purposes well. The tiered room had been lined with rows of tables with comfortable seating. Jeanie had done a masterful job of the task. Each table was wired with a cordless microphone, that could be activated with the press of a button, and a switch that would light a panel at the front of the table to indicate if they wanted to speak or ask a question.

That along with the discrete speakers built into the surface of the tables, to ensure everyone heard, as well as screens to ensure that everyone could see whatever information was being conveyed, and it was an impressive set up. On top of this, Torres had worked with Daniel and numerous others to get written copies of the languages of every planet with written word. Most of them were derivatives of Ancient, and with the system that came from the crystals Ata had provided, they only had to input the languages into the translation matrix. That meant that every table for planets with written languages had their native text available on the screens for them.

John was privately glad that one of the numerous useful side-effects of the bond was being able to learn the Wraith language with ease. It meant that even though the table for the Wraithkin had their text in Wraith, John could read it as easily as anyone else at his table. John took the seat in front of the microphone with Todd and Bitterwind flanking him, Silverclaw on Bitterwind's other side. There were more than a few clusters of various delegations talking to each other. John's group received ample glances, more than a few were hostile, which wasn't surprising, but none of those approached.

Allina and Sanir came over to their table and bowed, "I am glad to see that you will be attending this grand meeting. I do not believe that our galaxy has every considered anything so ambitious before. True, there is the Coalition, but it is not nearly as inclusive as this. Some of the people here, I have never even heard of their worlds. There is one group that has children as representatives even."

"Yeah, we call their world Neverland. Up until a few years ago, they would commit ritual suicide at age 25 to prevent the wraith from culling their world. It was under a mistaken belief that we've managed to correct and persuade them to not kill themselves. Keras, the head of their group of representatives, is literally the oldest person on their world. We met him literally the day before he turned 25," John was stiff as he spoke.

"Why Neverland? I do not understand this term," Allina asked in confusion.

It was Todd who answered. John realized that he was probably reading a little too much in his off time, "It is from a children's book of the Lanteans' homeworld. Neverland was a place where those who lived there never aged. It was predominately populated by children."

"And they are a world of children, at least by our standards," Allina nodded in understanding now.

"Hence, why part of their delegation is younger than my oldest kid," John smiled at the silliness of it.

Rikki had waved off the Coalition's first summit, completely disinterested. She told John that she would pay attention to their activities if it looked like it might impact her ability to do science and not a moment before that. John figured that Rikki was still a little too young to care too deeply about politics that didn't impact her. He did notice that Sebastian, Amelia, and Jeff were sitting in the upper balcony, where civilians had been invited to watch.

Eventually, the last of the delegations arrived and Dr. Torres took the podium at the front, requesting everyone take their seats. The Daganians returned to their table and John did his best to keep it from appearing as if his eyes had glazed over while Dr. Torres gave a welcome speech that was a half hour long. It mostly consisted of an expression of hope for the worlds working together for the mutual benefit of the galaxy and their safety.

After that, there were a slew of brief speeches made by each table. Each delegation had five minutes to express their feelings on having a mass meeting. Most were positive, talking about how it was gratifying to see everyone being treated as equals. When it came time for John to make the speech for the Wraithkin, he saw how stiff everyone in the hall was as he leant forward.

"The People of the Wraithkin and their worlds have asked me to speak on their behalf, an honor which I have accepted. While the Wraithkin have chosen, for the most part over the past few months, to keep themselves isolated from the other worlds of the Pegasus Galaxy, they are, at present only doing so out of consideration for the worlds that they are aware that have been previously harmed in their endeavors for their survival. The Wraithkin are aware that many of the worlds of Pegasus would not, at present, welcome them in trade or alliances. That being said, they are willing and capable of providing protection from the Wraith, in addition in attempting to make right past wrongs by providing the worlds harmed by their past actions with means of improving infrastructure and agricultural productivity for any who are willing and wish for it.

"The Wraithkin, however, know that forgiveness is not something that will come easily, if at all, and are well aware of the damage their actions, though a necessity to survive, have caused the worlds of Pegasus. They are hopeful, however, that with time, and dedication, they can prove that their intentions are truly to make amends for their past actions and to move into the future with an intent to help safeguard Pegasus and all lawful residents within it in conjunction with the Lanteans and their populous. They also ask that you keep in mind that the children of the Wraithkin, those who willingly took the retrovirus before they began to physically mature, or as they began to physically mature, are not at fault, in any way, shape, or form for the actions committed by their care givers. The majority are extremely young and have never harmed any human in any way. Thank you," John had worked out the wording with both Nancy and Bitterwind. It was a balancing act to make it clear that while they weren't going to grovel for forgiveness, no Wraithkin would let go of their pride enough for that, they did intend to try to make things right.

In a way, they already had. A few of the more trusted hives, primarily Bitterwind's and her daughters', had been outfitted with more advanced Asgard weapons, the beaming tech, and McKay's Wormhole drive and had been making some of the responses to the attempted cullings. The room remained silent for a moment before, as they were going alphabetically, the Yarea people were given their turn to provide an introductory speech. They were a hunter-gatherer society that had spoken of hopes of being able to establish farming and agriculture now that they had a safer means of protecting their people with the Lantean provided shield. Their shield was, out of necessity, massive to accommodate their nomadic patterns, but from what John understood, they had tentatively negotiated with the Athosians for tava bean seeds in exchange for some hunted meat.

There was only one planet to hear from after the Yarea people, a more developed agricultural planet of tribes, the Zenaw. Once the opening statements were completed, Dr. Torres returned to the podium and began laying out the purpose of the newly formed Interplanetary Coalition of Pegasus, namely mutual help, benefit, and safety. At this point, the Genii predictably flicked the switch indicating they had something to say.

Torres indulged them, though John was fairly certain he already knew what Ladon intended to say, "You speak of forming this new organization, as a sort of upgrade from the Coalition of Planets, to protect others, and yet you allow the very predators who have fed upon us for millennia to sit among us, next to one of your most esteemed members and call them allies. How can we trust these 'Wraithkin' or the Lanteans who are willing to place so much faith in them at all? I have seen no evidence so far of their good intent."

John smirked. Just two weeks prior, a hive had attempted to cull on Genia, and John had intentionally sent Bitterwind and Silverclaw's hives to deal with them for this very reason. He flicked the switch indicating he needed to say something. However, Princess Flora, of Harmony, a woman that John was familiar with thanks to his escorting her younger sister through her rite for claiming her throne. Apparently, the world was called by the Queen's name, so John shrugged and waved for Torres to let Flora go first. John knew that Harmony had a bone to pick with the Genii, as did several other worlds.

Torres took his signal and indicated Princess Flora could speak, "It is peculiar, though I suppose not entirely unexpected, that the world with a long, protracted history if taking advantage of their supposed allies in not only trade agreements, but also committing unwelcome and unwanted mining operations, like was done on my homeworld, without my late mother's permissions, would be the first to cast aspersions on the trustworthiness of another group. Personally, in my experience, the Lanteans have never been anything other than honest and fair with my people.

"Their trade goods, which are predominantly medicines, have saved countless lives, and less than three weeks ago, they destroyed two hives that made an attempt to cull my homeworld. I think in this case, the actions of the Lanteans have proved that their words hold more weight to my people than the words of the Genii who less than two years ago attempted to interfere in a Sacred Rite of Queenship that my Queen and sister, Harmony undertook. An interference that only failed because of the efforts of the Lanteans in ensuring that the rightful and true Queen of my people was able to safely complete her Rite.

"Therefore, if the Lanteans say that the Wraithkin are endeavoring to make amends then the People of Harmony are willing to give them the benefit of an opportunity to prove their good intentions. The same cannot be said for the word of a Genii," Princess Flora finished what a hard look at Ladon. It was clear that Flora had made the declaration out of spite for the Genii, rather than a genuine willingness to trust the Wraithkin, but it was still a start.

Ladon's expression was sour. Torres didn't give him an opportunity to argue back though, instead turning to John who smiled before carefully wording things, "First off, I would like to say on behalf of the Wraithkin that we thank the People of Harmony for their willingness to consider accepting our intent to make amends for past wrongs. As for the accusations of the Genii that the Wraithkin have made no active efforts to prove their intent to provide aid in whatever method possible, I must respectfully disagree. I'm currently bringing up the readings on your monitors, for everyone to see, that two weeks ago, the shielding systems, which were by the way designed my Wraithkin husband, Todd, detected two Wraith Hives, can you confirm that this event did occur, Ladon?"

The Genii's nod was stiff, "Our shield did, in fact, activate two weeks ago in response to two hives above our planet, which did proceed to attempt a bombardment of our planet."

"Right, well, as you can see on the readings that were transmitted from your own shielding system, shortly after the arrival of the first two hives, two more hives arrived and after a failed attempt to dissuade them from their attempts to cull and to take the Wraithkin Retrovirus instead, Queens Bitterwind and Silverclaw, who are currently sitting to my left, ordered their hives to open fire and destroyed the two Wraith hives attacking your world, after evacuating any living humans and immature Wraith, who have since accepted, happily, the opportunity to be free of the Hunger. So, you see, you and your people have firsthand experience of the good intent of the Wraithkin, having personally been rescued by them just two weeks ago, by your own admission," John smiled brightly and leaned back, ceding the floor back to Torres.

Ladon looked like he would happily shoot John. In truth, John was fairly certain that Ladon was fantasizing about it while Torres continued her list of hopes and intents for the future of the people of the Pegasus galaxy. After she finished, she opened the floor to different worlds to air what they hope for from the ICP. John wasn't surprised when the first question that was aired was from Kelore, the Latiran representative who had been on the original Coalition of Planets council.

"This is a question directed to the Wraithkin representatives. You have spoken already of an intent to make reparations, not just through providing security, but also through agricultural assistance and infrastructure. The Latiran people would like clarification on what kind of aid we would receive, if we were receptive to it," Kelore asked, his eye clearly glinting with the possibility of getting more out of the Lanteans.

John grimaced, he hated the politics of it all, but knew the importance of stressing what the Wraithkin could do, "The Wraithkin are happy and willing to provide testing on soils to advise on which soils are best for which crops, with the intent to help improve crop yield. They are willing to assist in the designing and construction of irrigation systems to fields that require it, again to assist in the improved crop yield, and help in creating aqueduct systems to improve the supple of fresh water to urban environments. They are willing to assist in clearing arable lands of obstructions such as boulders and trees, including their root systems to help increase farmlands. The Wraithkin are also willing to assist in the design and construction of more structurally stable and insulated silos, barns, homes, and other buildings. Of course, their numbers are currently limited, and they do have their own crops and worlds to maintain, but they will do whatever is within reason and their abilities to meet these goals."

More than a few groups of representatives got thoughtful expressions. Most of them were agricultural worlds that would see a significant improved standard of living with such aid, as well as a major cultural development boost. The Genii were the next to speak, though John suspected that Torres was calling on Ladon just to get it over with.

"And what of worlds that are advanced past the point where such assistance will prove useful?" Ladon questioned. "The Genii, for example, already possess the ability to detect where best to plant crops and know how to lay irrigation systems. We have running water that goes beyond aqueduct systems. We even have weapons capable of allowing us to fight the Wraith, though admittedly they are not on the same level as that of the Lanteans. What could the Wraithkin possibly do to make amends with us?"

"The people of Lantea have agreed that the worlds that are more advanced, such as the Genii, would not benefit much from the assistance of the Wraithkin, as they are currently able to provide, given that they are still establishing themselves and attempting to ensure that they themselves have a stable and secure home," John kept his face straight although he felt a smug satisfaction and he knew Todd felt it too, Ladon had just openly admitted to being more advanced than they had admitted to anyone besides the Lanteans. Still, he had to play it by the book. He could tell that the Genii and a few others were looking a little too eager, like they expected John to offer up a ship or weapons. He remained quiet as Torres took up where he left off.

"The People of Lantea have, by popular vote, determined that our desire to see the Wraithkin, whether they be residents of Lantea, or other worlds, be able to provide proper compensation to those they harmed. As such, for worlds that are not currently within the Wraithkin worlds' capabilities to assist, Lantea has decided to open up the opportunity for their children to receive a more advanced and improved opportunity by receiving an education with our own children. They will be provided with housing, food, and be sharing classes with our children that will enable them to learn at a faster pace on topics covering mathematics, sciences, languages, both yours and ours, and the fundamentals of working Ancient technologies for those who are receptive to the ATA gene therapy or bare the gene naturally," Torres finished and while most of those who had looked eager before now looked ecstatic, Ladon once more looked like he was sucking on a lemon.

Sharia of the Tribes of Santhal spoke next, "What of worlds that are within the Wraithkin's capabilities to assist? Will we also be provided with this opportunity?"

Torres smiled, "Yes. However, for all the worlds that do consider sending their children to us, they should be aware of several things. These classes will possess Wraithkin children within them. The children who are educated here will be expected to live on Atlantis during the period of their educations, as daily gate travel would, I'm sure you can understand, be extremely disruptive to their learning opportunities. I would also like to warn that while their educations in some areas might be immediately beneficial to your peoples, such as in the fields of botany and first-aid medicine, both of which require more advanced educations, there are a great deal more that you wouldn't find useful until your technology has advanced to a sufficient degree that agriculture isn't your primary way of life. For example, I am sure there are a great many of you who would see an increase in crop yields and houses that won't cave in on you as far more valuable at present than you would find the ability to understand the mechanics behind a rainbow or the calculations of how a bird can maintain its flight or even the histories of some long lost world that can only be read in their ruins as they are long gone."

There were plenty of nods of agreement at this, Princess Flora asked the next question, "But if we are interested in sending some of our children to Atlantis for the more advanced educations and if they are capable, the lessons on how to utilize the Ancestor's technology, it will be permitted?"

"Welcomed is a more accurate term. The hope of the Lanteans is to help the various peoples of Pegasus to develop in technology until we are all on equal footing and can stand as equals in understanding and goals. As each of your worlds have already been informed, there is a greater threat than even the Wraith approaching. We do not know exactly how long we have until they come to the Pegasus Galaxy, but ultimately, the Lantean hope is to see that the Naari are not able to repeat what they are currently doing in the Milky Way in the Pegasus galaxy.

"Our hope is to ensure that they are never given the opportunity and for that we need everyone standing up, side by side, to fight as one. To fight as equals so that the threat can be eliminated before they have the opportunity to finish what they started in the Milky Way and then come here. You have all been told of what happened to our homeworld. You know we were so detrimentally outnumbered that all we could do was evacuate as many people as we possibly could manage in the time available. Evacuate them here as there was nowhere else for us to go. This is why we look to the Wraithkin for help, as we do the Tok'ra, and the Jaffa who have joined our numbers. This is not a fight for one people, one world, one way of life. This isn't even a fight for one species, the Naari do not care if you are human, Wraith, Wraithkin, Jaffa, Nox, or any other sentient species that is out there. They seek to dominate and destroy.

"Before this summit of the ICP is over, before the week is out, you will see the footage gathered by stealth missions into the Milky Way galaxy that our ships have taken. You will see the damage to the worlds that weren't immediately vaporized, as ours was. We've managed to rescue some of those who were briefly under the Naari thumb and experienced what it is like and you will hear from them and be able to question them as well. Just keep that in mind as we discuss matters for the rest of today and throughout this week. This isn't about past wrongs and petty rivalries. This is about the survival and freedom of all the sentient peoples residing within Pegasus," Torres finished speaking to a hall of dead silence.

John had to give the woman credit. She knew how to captivate an audience and make a compelling speech. John had struggled through writing his little five minute piece with the help of Nancy and a bunch of Queens who had millennia of experience making speeches and it wasn't as impressive as the one that John suspected that Torres had just made up on the fly. If she hadn't than she had made a point to memorize it, but John doubted that was as likely as she just winged it. Or maybe she had been looking for the right moment to make it.

After that, the day pretty much turned dull for John. There were some discussions on expectations about honoring trade agreements, most of which had people glaring at the Genii, and discussions on how to improve crops. All of this was as interesting to John as writing a ten paged report on the findings of a trip to the moon. Sure, in theory it sounded interesting, but in actuality, a blank, barren wasteland. It is incredibly difficult and boring in describing the moon. That didn't mean that John didn't have to pay attention as he did occasionally have to respond to a question directed at the Wraithkin or ask one for them. The advantage to their telepathy meant that they weren't whispering whenever they needed to discuss something among themselves.

It gave those from the other delegations the impression that the Wraithkin were happy to let John speak for them. The breaks they got were spent getting food into themselves and Todd and John both pumped and left the milk with Kannan who was watching Fianna for them. John made a point of periodically checking Ladon's mind to ensure the sneaky Genii wasn't up to anything. However, all that he seemed inclined to care about that day or even the next was maintaining some form of political standing within the new ICP and potentially get weapons. He also seemed interested in sowing distrust towards the Wraithkin and Lanteans and was frustrated that his efforts so far weren't working that well.

On the second day, part of it was spent on a tour of the highlights of Atlantis. The majority of the delegates looked eager to see the advantages that Atlantis had, particularly the medical areas given that medicine was the major trade item from Lantea. Keller, Lam, and Beckett had ensured that the main infirmary was clear of patients for the tour and were diverted to the auxiliary infirmaries. There was a little demonstration of the scanners and explanations of new medical treatments in development, like Rikki's modified hand device and the nanites.

"At present, for example, we are just starting clinical trials to use the nanites developed by Todd Sheppard to replace the Tretonin Drug the Jaffa are reliant on to fill their lack of immune system. The Jaffa are humans who were modified by the species known as the Goa'uld to carry their young several millennia ago. This modification required that the larval Goa'uld replace the Jaffa immune system when they are first implanted as otherwise their immune system would kill the larval Goa'uld. As a result, now that the Goa'uld have been wiped out, the Jaffa require a replacement for the larval Goa'uld. That replacement was originally a drug derived from Goa'uld symbiotes that we have since figured out how to create a synthetic version of. Now, the drug does have a few notable side-effects, the primary one being that if you do have a functional immune system, it will eliminate it, which is a bad thing and why we don't use it for any one besides the Jaffa. The other downside is that it has a relatively short effective span, a dose only last two days, so if the Jaffa goes longer than that without a dose, then they are susceptible to anything they come into contact with.

"Now, the current hope is to either use the nanites to repair their immune systems, as they are born with one, it just deteriorates when the hit puberty. Or if that's not possible, then use the nanites to replace the immune system. This second option is less favorable because, it could mean that the Jaffa will be susceptible to other threats, like an EMP disrupting the Nanites, so if that is the route we end up taking, we will also be looking into a retrovirus to correct the deterioration of their immune system, though that will require a great deal of time and research to achieve," Lam explained.

"Will these nanites be able to provide other medical treatments or be made available as a medical treatment for diseases as a trade item?" Sharia of the Tribes of Santhal asked.

"At present we are still testing the safety and capabilities of the nanites. However, once we are certain that they can be used safely, we will open their use up for trade purposes. That being said, when that does happen, it will be necessary for Lantean Doctors to administer the nanites as they will likely require extensive monitoring to ensure that they are doing only what they are intended to do," Keller answered.

"What about those who were infected from the Hoffen Drug? Will these nanites be able to help them or are you perhaps working on a treatment for them?" Another delegate asked. John didn't know his name, but he figured his world was one of the ones that took in the survivors who had been given the drug.

Beckett answered that question, "I am currently working on developing a targeted treatment for those who received the Hoffen Drug. I believe I am close to one that will repair the damage done to their immune systems so that they will be able to live perfectly functional and normal lives without being susceptible to the infections that a normal person can fight off easily. I hope to start taking volunteers for treatment trials within six weeks."

John resisted the urge to snort. Beckett had realized that some of the components in the drug Michael created to prevent him from dying, due to his being a clone, were structured almost identically to the chemicals that those within a mating bond created and the one the Keller synthetically created. After some preliminary examinations, he theorized that that was the component of Michael's drug that kept the Hoffen Drug within his own system from destroying his immune system. John figured that Michael probably worked out the whole chemical keeping the bonded carriers from going brain dead on his own.

Still, if that was another advantage of the bond, then, John wasn't going to complain. So far, John had seen the whole bond as a positive with no downsides. He had a healthy marriage, healthy baby, Rikki adored Todd, and they were making serious progress on the Wraith conversion to Wraithkin front too. Each new positive was like a little extra bonus thrown in just for fun. Yes, Todd would have to go on Keller's drug if something happened to John, but as there was a drug now to ensure that Todd survived even if John didn't, he wasn't going to dwell too deeply on it.

He followed the group as they went to the observation room for the Wraithkin NICU. Questions aplenty were asked about the babies, there were some questions about why the two attending nurses were both Wraithkin, which was given the answer that their immune systems ensured they never got sick and couldn't be carriers, thus they wouldn't pass on any sickness to the vulnerable, preemie babies or the two still comatose but recovering carriers currently being cared for in the ward. They were the ones who had been furthest along in their first pregnancies, so their minds were taking significantly longer to heal.

This led to questions about the drug Keller used to treat the carriers and that led to a general explanation of Wraith/Wraithkin mating bonds. Nothing too personal was discussed, but there were plenty of looks directed at John and Todd. After that explanation, the questions shifted to the potential treatments that could be made from the drug, which Beckett revealed he was plaining on using a targeted and modified version to treat the Hoffen Drug side-effects.

Through it all, John kept an eye and mind on Ladon, but it seemed, for whatever reason, the man seemed content to remain silent throughout the tours. He was a little too interested in the labs when they were shown, at Rikki's recommendation, Rikki's lab. Rikki was working on assembling the prototype of the modified Goa'uld hand healing device. She had admitted that other projects had repeatedly taken precedence over it, and the device kept getting pushed to the side. They intended on testing it once the ICP summit was over. Rikki and Tom fielded the questions about their current projects with familiar ease.

A large number of the delegates were eager to learn of an easy to use healing device. Given that such a device could mean the difference between life and death for major injuries, John couldn't blame them for their excitement. Even Ladon looked pleased with the prospect of having such a device soon available. Rikki did have to explain that it the device did have a limited capacity in what it could heal, but John doubted if the delegates gave a shit that there was an energy drain with the use of the device.

That afternoon was spent discussing and clarifying the known abilities of the Naari. Footage taken from the Hammond was shown and even as they neared the one-year anniversary of Earth's destruction, it was still hard to watch. John read the room instead of focusing on the footage and realized that for the first time these people were shifting their concerns away from the Wraith. They were swiftly becoming more a nuisance than a genuine threat to the galaxy thanks to the Lanteans. The Naari though, no one wanted to have their world completely vaporized for no reason at all. There was little that could be done to safeguard against a threat like that.

Even Ladon seemed to take it seriously as they heard an Unas and a Jaffa military leader explain their first-hand experiences with the Naari and the knowledge they had gotten from it. The discussions continued into the third day. When, just before lunch, it was put to a vote to rely on the Lanteans and provide the necessary food for them to fight the Naari, John suspected that it was the first time in recorded history that an entire galaxy of worlds had put forth an vote and the result was unanimous. He also knew the others were making the choice selfishly. They were finally getting a life free of the threat of being food for the Wraith, for the first time in millennia. The idea of being playthings for a new threat was something they wanted to avoid at all costs and John couldn't blame them for that. The only surprise had been that even Ladon had voted for the Lanteans taking the lead as well.

That afternoon was spent determining where support and resources could be used and distributed. John felt the tension ease from in his back as the delegates for the various worlds made their departures. Before leaving, Princes Flora came over to speak with John for a moment, "I will speak to Queen Harmony on the matter attempting to locate those who carry the… ATA gene among our people. If they are of an appropriate age, they will be sent to be trained to help fight and be used as pilots of your Puddle Jumpers. If they are younger, then they will be sent to learn from you so that when they are grown, they might join the fight and with greater knowledge than their predecessors."

John smiled, "Testing for the gene is easy and can be done on your world, if you wish. We have small portable devices that require the gene to use, that we call LSDs and anyone with the gene can use it. I don't doubt you will find that you can easily use it, as I know your sister, Queen Harmony has the gene."

"I am sure Queen Harmony will be delighted to know this," Flora responded and then rejoined her group as they awaited their turn to leave.

John sighed in relief as the last delegate left the city, "Thank fuck that went so well."

Bitterwind chuckled, "I have never seen such docile negotiations occur before."

"Ladon made at least six veiled threats to various former trade partners during the summit and we showed footage of the destruction of our homeworld. That's docile to you?" John countered.

"Hmm… Hive Alliance negotiations frequently have multiple deaths while the hives via for who the primary will be, so yes, very docile," Bitterwind answered.

John cringed slightly, "I hope nothing like that happened to determine the primary for the Wraithkin Hive Alliance."

Bitterwind smirked, "It was not necessary. Our Primary was an easy and obvious choice. After all, you, I strongly suspect, could ravage the minds of any Hive Queen if you desired to. I know that my defenses are next to useless against you, that's for certain." With that she and Silverclaw walked away, leaving John with his jaw hanging open.

Todd gave him a raised eyebrow at this, "Did your mother just imply that I was the Wraithkin Primary?" He barely managed to keep the squeak of panic from his voice.

Todd laughed in amusement, "You did not think they had you speak for them because you were merely pretty to look at, did you? No, of course you are the Alliance Primary. It has always fallen to the strongest of will and mind, the surest fighter, and that is you. They all know that you could kill them effortlessly. It is why the Wraithkin within Atlantis defer to you and it is why the Queens do as well. To them you are the Fearless Leader of the Winds of Change. There is nothing more powerful or terrifying to any Wraith and thus no other that the Wraithkin would choose to lead them, just as I am now known as Guide of Wraithkin where I was once known as Guide of Wraith."

John nodded slowly as he processed this and then froze, "Is that why Menelaus isn't afraid of me?" Todd just laughed at him again for that and John decided to let it go. At present, none of the Wraithkin Queens appeared inclined to fight him for the position of Primary and in truth Bitterwind might have been right about being able tear apart their minds if he felt it necessary. While working with his people, he had realized he could send out a wide broadcast thought, but he had to be careful not to be too forceful with it because it could hurt others. Besides, if it kept the Wraithkin Hive Queens from killing each other and maintained the peace, that was good. That did mean he had finally found the sole downside to the bond though, excessive responsibility to the Wraithkin.


	24. Chapter 24

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Just as a clarification in advance, I gave Jinto (and his father) and Wex last names. Jinto and Halling have the last name Treale and Wex's last name is Hunter. **

**ANN: To answer the question asked by ObsidianPheonix26, when writing this I didn't really consider SGU because I never managed to make it past the three-part pilot (almost everyone was too selfish and dickish for my tastes). That said, you can assume that the people on the Icarus Base, having not found the information to unlock the ninth chevron (as SGA ends in January 2009 and I have them leaving back to Pegasus in June of that year, while SGU doesn't start until October 2009) were picked up by the Apollo on their first recon mission back to the Milky Way. **

**Also, since Eli Wallace is just about the only character that didn't panic like an idiot and actually tried to be generally useful to everyone (thus the only character that I found likeable), I've decided that he and his mother Marian were grocery shopping in one of the stores that the 304s were grabbing food and people from and got sent through the gate on one of the last groups. Since the tech is available (In the form of the nanites) to treat Marian's HIV, curing her, she is now healthy and working as a nurse in one of the infirmaries while Eli has gone back to taking classes in the university levels. I may or not choose to work him or Rush into the story, but those are really the only two I would be willing to attempt to do so and anything about them would be pulled off of the StargateWiki since I really didn't get into SGU.**

Chapter 24: Never Trust a Stranger

John had two days of peace between the end of the IPC Summit and his daughter suddenly deciding she was bored being stuck on Atlantis constantly. Granted, she was turning fourteen in a week and he knew there was a rumor going around about potential Ancient tech being found on one of the major market planets. He really should have anticipated Rikki wanting to investigate, even though it was completely unnecessary.

"Please? Pretty please? Teyla said she would be going next week, and I just want to look around, see if there really might be a source of undiscovered Ancient tech. You know I know Ancient stuff better than even Rodney does at this point. Please, for my birthday?" Rikki begged.

Tom, Wex, and Jinto were all waiting right behind her, Wex and Jinto standing at attention while Tom leaned against the wall, knowing that Rikki asking for something always had interesting results. Wex and Jinto were undoubtedly Rikki's source of intel that there might be something interesting in that particular market. They had seemingly joined Rikki's circle of friends, and were actually the closest to her age, so John couldn't complain. The two of them were also among those now being sent out to discreetly gather intel. They dressed in normal, Athosian clothing during those missions, with undershirts made of the polycarbonate fabrics. It was better than a bullet-proof vest and easier to conceal too.

"Rikki, there are a lot of threats out in the galaxy," John tried, though he suspected that that wouldn't work as well as it had even six months before when she was still grateful that her family was together and safe.

"But Dad, it's really not anymore. With the shields, even if a Wraith Hive did attack, we would be perfectly safe, and you guys would be there in like… five minutes at most to kick their asses. Plus, I'll be with Teyla and Tom and whoever else comes along. I swear, I will stick to Teyla's side if that's what it takes," Rikki bounced hopefully, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

John sighed, "You're going with six guards, who you _will not _try to give the slip to. You stay with the assigned guards at all times, Tom, I'm trusting you to keep her in line on this, and you don't leave Teyla's line of sight, Rikki. Am I understood?"

"Yes! Thank you, I will!" Rikki cheered.

Tom projected the thought that John was a push-over. John responded that if he was a push-over than Tom was Rikki's bitch. Tom rolled his eyes before following his much younger friend from John's office, Jinto and Wex in tow. John shook his head and made a mental note to talk with Teyla about letting Rikki go. Tom wisely didn't argue the comment. John figured Tom knew exactly how wrapped around Rikki's fingers he was.

As the week passed, Rikki was bouncing with excitement and she knew it. Tom and the others treated her with fond amusement, but Rikki didn't really care. She was going to leave Atlantis for a day. Not that she didn't love Atlantis, the city was awesome, the tech was amazing, and Rikki knew that there was nowhere else in Pegasus or the Milky Way that was a better place to live. Not even Earth could have compared. That being said, she had spent the past few months hearing Jinto and Wex and the other SpecOps trainees talking about their intel gathering trips to various market worlds. They talked about the people they befriended and always brought back interesting things, like hand-carved puzzle boxes and woven blankets with the constellations of the Stargate on them. Sure, Rikki was curious about the reports of potential Ancient tech, but mostly she wanted to just explore one of the market worlds. If she got to do both at the same time, all the better.

So, she obediently put the protective undershirt on before donning Athosian clothing lent to her by Versan, who happened to be a similar size to Rikki, even though she was two years older. Rikki had hit a major growth spurt over the past few months and had gained several inches. She was now taller than her mother, to her mother's annoyance. Tom had to borrow an outfit from Jinto, who had grown to a similar height to his father, Halling.

Teyla gave everyone appraising looks before nodding, "Rikki, remember you are to remain with Tom and at least two of the guards at all times. Also remember that you will encounter people from many worlds at the markets, do not let them know that you are John's daughter. There are a great many people who hold your father in such a high esteem that I fear there will be a commotion if they realize his daughter were among them. To the majority of these worlds, John is a great leader and warrior. In their eyes that puts you on the same level as that of a princess. Fortunately, most people do not know what you look like and while they have heard of your father's appearance, few would be able to pick him out of a crowd with ease.

"Jinto, Wex, Yu'tra, Dusty, Anne, Kerran, two of you are to be with Rikki and Tom at all times and the rest must have an eye on them as well as your surroundings. Our purpose of this trip is to find the merchant that is supposedly selling Ancient artifacts and to assess if they are in truth, artifacts. Rikki and Tom are going along to identify them, so if you find such an item, you are to direct them to the stall immediately. Also, remember to keep an eye out for any Genii. While we are technically allies, the Genii are hardly likely to aid us and may act to hinder us in our efforts. If you spot one, be sure to inform everyone in the group, but carefully," Teyla finished.

Once she had gotten a round of confirming nods, Teyla handed out the packs filled with goods that could be traded for other things. They mostly contained the candied fruits that had become a popular small ticket trade item on the market worlds, though there were some hand-crafted things as well. Those were in the bags of Jinto, Wex, Teyla, and Kerran though, as it took more skill as a trader than Rikki, Tom, Dusty, or Anne had the abilities of. Anna and Dusty had done this before, so they knew something about the methods of bartering, but were still not exactly skilled at it. Yu'tra had experience from his homeworld and these trips, but Rikki and Tom knew nothing and were told to let one of the Athosians do the talking if they saw something they liked.

After all, merchants were far more talkative with paying customers. Rikki was vibrating throughout the trip through the gate and on the brisk walk to the market town. That walk was the point of highest risk, as the shield didn't cover the path between the town and the gate. Once they were in the town, Rikki beamed in excitement and Tom gave her an indulgent smile in return. Yu'tra and Jinto took up the space next to Tom and Rikki and they immediately began wandering to the different stalls.

Rikki let Jinto do a lot of the guiding as he would pause to chat with people that he had made nice with. There was a lot of idle gossip after Rikki and Tom were introduced, but enough of it was interesting that Rikki didn't look rude by becoming obviously bored. She did marvel that it didn't matter where you were living in the universe, people still cared about who was sleeping with who and who just had a kid and what not. Each stall they stopped at had such conversations and Rikki wasn't really certain that this information was too useful until they came to about the fourth, where Rikki let Jinto barter some candied fruit for a nicely made choker for her. The merchant then made a few whispered remarks to Jinto as Rikki put the new choker on.

He walked away with a smirk, "Come on, we're go to talk to someone in particular now." With that, he led them through the crowds to a stall across the street.

He gestured for Rikki to come forward and look at the stuff while he chatted happily with the stall owner. Rikki figured that the other merchant had told Jinto there might be something of interest at this stall. Rikki examined each item carefully until she found what was clearly the item of interest. It was a personal shield… that had been turned into a gaudy necklace. She had to resist the urge to giggle. Jinto noticed her interest in the necklace and leaned over with a whisper, "That looks familiar."

"I hope it's power source isn't depleted. If it isn't, I might get…" Jinto shook his head at Rikki's murmured response.

"Don't look too eager to have it," Jinto whispered back before starting the bartering process for the necklace that held the personal shield.

Tom and Rikki kept looking through the goods but didn't find anything else. Jinto made a casual inquiry where the merchant had found the necklace, after the transaction was completed and the necklace tucked into Jinto's bag. The merchant admitted that it had been traded for something else by another merchant and sent them in that merchant's direction. Rikki figured the guy felt he had made out what with the three expertly carved cups and a jar of candied fruit he'd gotten for the trade since he didn't seem too impressed with the necklace.

They crossed paths with Teyla on their way to the stall and Wex joined them as Jinto passed off the personal shield. Teyla sighed softly, "It is remarkable how few people realize the value of some of the things that they have sometimes." The shield got safely tucked away and Teyla continued on her way with Anne and Dusty.

They stopped briefly at a food stall, to prevent looking like they were in too big a rush and traded a handful of candies for some food. Wex was apparently acquainted with the stall owner and talked with her for a bit before they headed on towards the new target of interest. This one was towards the end of the market that held mostly food stuff. It was also mostly tucked into an alleyway. Rikki smiled pleasantly to the stall owner as she, Tom, and Yu'tra began their careful perusal of the items on show. Jinto and Wex made nice with the stall owner. It was obvious that Jinto and Wex didn't know this one. Rikki eyed a bracelet that looked like it could be a small data crystal when the noise of a cart distracted her for a moment.

She glanced over at the cart and frowned as it blocked their way out of the alley and thus their view of the market as a whole. Rikki glanced at Yu'tra who wasn't happy by this either but didn't look too concerned. That was until the stall owner pulled a stunner out and shot Jinto and Wex with it. Rikki dodged the shot aimed at her even as men entered the alley from the other side. The flurry of stunner fire was impossible to avoid completely, and Rikki was unconscious before she knew it.

The men wrapped everyone they had rendered unconscious in sacking and then carried them out of the alley end. Only when they had placed their prisoners in a small cart on the other end of the alley and covered them with more sacking, did the cart on the end of the alley move. The majority of the group scattered back into the crowds, while two headed to the gate, dragging the cart back to the gate as if they had made some good trades and were done with this trip.

Teyla had rarely felt anger this potent before. She didn't spot the Genii in the crowds until it was clearly too late. Anne, Dusty, and Kerran searched the entire market looking for the others, but to not avail. The merchant that Jinto had explained might have more Ancient artifacts claimed to not know where they were and a scan over his goods showed nothing that looked likely to fit the description of Ancient artifacts. The merchant himself did admit that he spoke with them, but they only stayed at the stall a short while and didn't buy anything. Teyla silently wished she had John's strength of telepathy to determine if the man was lying or not.

After they had searched the entire market and the nearby taverns in the futile hope that Rikki had talked Jinto, Wex, and Yu'tra into letting her try some alien beer, Teyla had to admit that they had likely been taken. She knew that John would be justifiably livid. He had entrusted his daughter's safety to Teyla, and she had failed. She could only hope that wherever she had been taken, Rikki remained with Yu'tra, Jinto, Wex, and Tom. As it was, they had wasted too much time searching the market. They headed back to the gate at a brisk jog, hoping against hope that they caught up with the kidnappers before they reached the gate.

It was with a heavy heart that Teyla dialed the gate, having seen cart tracks but nothing more. Of course, cart tracks were hardly evidence of anything on a market world. There were ample numbers of people who brought their goods in on carts and left with them when they were finished with their trading. Once she put in her IDC, she gave a final sigh before going through the gate to face the music as John would say.

Rikki groaned and clutched at her head as a clanging noise woke her. In a fit of disorientation, she wondered what was wrong with Atlantis's door functions if it was making that noise. Her next foggy thought was to wonder why was she on the floor. Before she could fully process it, she was helped to sit up. She squinted for a second at Jinto in confusion before she recalled what had happened. He pressed his finger to his lip as she realized someone was yelling at someone else.

"OF ALL THE UNOBSERVANT, MORONIC THINGS YOU COULD HAVE DONE, YOU KIDNAPPED JOHN SHEPPARD'S DAUGHTER! I TOLD YOU TO GRAB A FEW OF THEIR SCIENTISTS, NOT THEIR FUCKING, PRECIOUS GOLDEN CHILD! SHEPPARD WILL TEAR THIS GALAXY APPART LOOKING FOR HER YOU INCOMPETENT IMBECILE!" Rikki winced at the foreign voice's obvious rage.

She also noticed that Tom was still out. Jinto, Wex, and Yu'tra were all awake and alert though. The voices drifted off as the man who was yelling said something about trying to figure out how to fix the situation. Rikki looked at Jinto, "So…"

"Genii. This is why we always keep an eye out for them. Gen. Sheppard was worried they would try something like this. It isn't exactly a first for them. The question is whether these guys are rouge or under Ladon's orders," He answered before she could ask who had taken them.

She nodded slowly, "How come you guys woke up before me and are clearly way more with it? Is Tom okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he'll be fine. Stunners are a doozy the first few times you get hit with them. Gen. Sheppard has us building up resistance, so that they aren't as effective. Granted, we only started with that part of training a couple of months ago, so we still go down with the first hit… but it wears off quicker now," Wex answered from where he was standing by the solid looking door. "I think we're underground. Gen. Sheppard said that the Genii favor underground facilities and with the steady chill to this cell and the lack of windows, it fits."

"We have trackers implanted, they'll find us quickly, I'm sure," Jinto assured Rikki quickly.

Yu'tra shook his head, "A scientist I spoke with said that if we're too deep underground, it can prevent the long-range sensors from picking up the signal. Something about naquadah being a common component of the soils of most worlds. It's why we can't just scan the galaxy for worlds with Wraith breeding facilities on them. Too much interference. We need to be on the surface to get a signal out."

"Great. I already checked and they took all my knives," Wex sounded extremely put out by this.

Rikki smirked as she shifted her neck, "Well, they didn't take mine." She dug into the base of her braid and pulled out the plasma cutter that Ronon had recommended she always keep secured there.

The older teens all got vicious smirks. Yu'tra was the only one who was considered fully trained, so Rikki handed the thin contraption over to him, "I guess they didn't think a teenaged girl was going to be armed." She said as she pulled a second one from her boot.

"Did they not search you at all?" Wex's tone held obvious glee as Rikki pulled a third from her other boot. "How many do you have of these things?"

"Just the three. I guess they didn't think I'd be a threat. That'll show them to be sexist and ageist," Rikki commented smugly as Jinto and Wex took the blades.

Rikki immediately shuffled over to Tom as he groaned, "Did anyone get the license plate of that truck?" He asked, clearly feeling the headache that Rikki felt was now fading away for her.

"We got nabbed by the Genii. Dad's never letting me leave Atlantis again," Rikki told him as she helped him sit up.

"Well crap. I was having fun too, what with getting kidnapped and all. Now that's a real thrill, you know," Tom was clearly cranky. He always got sarcastic when he was cranky.

"The good news is that they were just looking to grab a couple of scientist and not Rikki. Of course, they didn't know that Rikki was going to be at the market today. I think the whole Ancient tech thing was a setup," Jinto, Rikki realized, talked more like an American than he did with the more formal speech of the Athosians. Then again, he had been receiving training from her father and living on Atlantis for over six months now, so maybe he had picked up the speech patterns that way.

Yu'tra clearly hadn't. With the plasma cutter in hand, he had shifted over to the door and was listening intently. Finally, he nodded, "We should act now that everyone is awake. The sooner we make our escape, the less likely they are to anticipate it. We need to get to the surface. If we do, then it will be a matter of evading our pursuers until one of our ships can pick up our signal and comes to collect us."

Tom shook off his dizziness as he stood while Yu'tra activated the plasma cutter in his hand and used it to cut through the bolt holding the door shut. He signaled for Tom and Rikki to be quiet as he and Jinto eased the door open. Thankfully, the door didn't squeak much despite its prior clanging, and they slipped out of the cell. Yu'tra and Jinto led the group and Wex held the rear, they kept Rikki and Tom in the middle. Rikki muffled her squeak of surprise when Yu'tra and Jinto ambushed and quietly killed two approaching guards from around a corner. Rikki forced herself not to panic or freeze or stare at the plasma cutters that were now being used as particularly effective knives.

Granted, she had always known the weapons she was making for everyone were for the purpose of killing enemies. However, it was clearly one thing to know it on principle and read reports, so as to better develop ideas of what people needed, it was entirely different to watch three teenagers, all of them only a few years older than Rikki and none older than Tom ruthlessly killing everyone they encountered, being careful to conserve the charges of the cutters whenever they weren't using them. They made the effort to head up whenever they found stairs, and eventually found an exit just before the sound of boots thumping and shouts reached their ears.

The group tumbled out into a wooded area after scrambling up the ladder. Yu'tra slammed the lid of the opening shut and directed them all to run. Jinto led the way, and Rikki was never more grateful that her father made her go running with him, Ronon, and now Todd, now that Todd wasn't pregnant anymore, every morning. It meant that despite being the shortest, she could keep up with the boys.

"I've got a signal! Send the coordinates to navigation now," Rodney announced excitedly.

"Finally, what they hell Rodney, it's been three hours," John snapped even as relief flooded his system. He watched as Col. Wu activated the wormhole drive for the plotted coordinates and he and the others from SpecOps rushed down to the transporter room.

By the time they reached it, the Phoenix was dropping out of the wormhole and their transporter technician was working on locking onto the transponders and other life signs in the area. As soon as he locked onto the five transponders of the teens that had been taken, the tech activated the transporters. Almost immediately after they had been rematerialized in front of them, there were four young men, one holding Rikki slung over his should like a sack of potatoes, suddenly tripping and face-planting.

"Really?" John couldn't help but ask even as Rikki let out a pained shriek.

"Fucking cock-sucking Hasshak! My leg!" Rikki screeched as Yu'tra struggled to get free of her.

"You have been spending too much time with Uncle Jack, I see." John grunted as he helped Yu'tra shift off Rikki who was clearly in pain.

"Pretty sure she picked that up from Vala actually," Tom responded while he was pressing down on what was clearly a bleeding shoulder as he struggled to get up. "She got hit in the leg by one of their bullets a few minutes ago."

Jinto, who had gotten himself up, picked Rikki up bridal style, earning a frown from Tom, but John brushed that off. It was clear they had not gotten away unscathed, though Jinto and Yu'tra were clearly in the best shape, "All of you get to the infirmary now. We'll take things from here. Wex, Jinto, Yu'tra, good job escaping."

"They were Genii, sir," Yu'tra informed them even as he provided physical support to the wavering Wex, who was bleeding from a wound in his side, before they headed off to obey John's instruction to head for the infirmary.

John knew that his expression mirrored Todd's icy expression. The bastards had shot at and injured his daughter. John didn't care if this was under Ladon's orders or not. These guys were dead. Vala was in the mix of John's SpecOps and was bouncing, clearly ready for action now that she was past her pregnancy and back in shape. Her hard expression said that she had every intention of making these bastards pay for their actions with blood.

"Drop us where you picked up the kids," He ordered the tech.

"Sir, the area is crawling with other life signs," The tech attempted to argue.

"He didn't stutter, Sargent," Vala snapped. A quick brush of her mind told John that she wanted blood for the harm caused to Rikki. Of course, since she viewed Rikki as 'practically her goddaughter' that was hardly surprising. She and Todd were good friends and she considered herself Rikki's honorary aunt.

The tech clearly decided that it was best not to argue further, which was wise, given how vicious Vala could get one someone she cared about was hurt. Their group was spaced out properly and lightsabers were activated as soon as they finished beaming down. There was a rush for the nearby threats. As soon as they were dealt with, John let Ronon and Teyla take the lead as they led everyone back to the underground bunker by following to obvious trail left by the escaping teens. There was more blood than John would have liked on that trail, but then there were plenty of idiot Genii along their path to be dealt with too.

When they reached the hatch, he let Ronon and Todd drop down first before following. The other Wraithkin just jumped down the hole, but the other humans did more of a pole slide down the ladder, "I want this place cleared of scum. If they surrender, knock them out for later interrogation, otherwise, kill them."

With those orders, everyone scattered in their independent teams, Todd, John, Ronon, and Teyla making one. John felt almost nothing as they cut down the Genii within the bunker, and it was a big one. It was clear that the place was meant for scientific research of some sort. He waited until everyone had finished clearing the bunker before they resurfaced. John radioed Rodney and told him to get down there with his tablet to gather whatever data was on the Genii's computers.

All told, it probably took two hours to clear the place and get every bit of data before Rodney planted a malicious virus in the computers. The next person who tried connecting to them wouldn't know their system had been infected for a few days. After that, everything they had would be fried. John didn't bother cleaning up before going to the infirmary while the ship jumped back into wormhole drive once everyone got back on the ship.

Jinto and Yu'tra were sitting on chairs, leaning back, though they immediately stood as soon as John entered, "Report, start at the beginning." John ordered.

Yu'tra responded, "One of the merchants at the marketplace had a necklace with an Ancient personal shield as the center piece. When we purchased it, Specialist Treale persuaded the merchant to tell us where he got it. Once we had the information, we handed the necklace off to Specialist Emmagan. At this point Specialist Hunter joined us. Then we went the market stall that the previous merchant claimed he had gotten the necklace.

"While Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Richards, and I examined the merchandise this new merchant had on display, Specialist Treale and Specialist Hunter spoke with the merchant, attempting to gather information of where he got his merchandise. After a few minutes at the stall, which was partially located in an alley, a cart blocked the entrance to the alley and the merchant pulled a stunner and utilized it on Specialist Treale and Specialist Hunter. He then missed shots directed at Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Richards, and me. However, several other men appeared from the other end of the alley and also fired stunners at us as well, some of their shots hit each of us. It this obvious from this that the supposed Ancient artifacts were indeed the bait in a trap for Lantean scientists.

"When we woke, we were in a cell, our weapons stripped from us. However, it appears that they failed to search Dr. Sheppard properly, as they missed the three plasma cutters she had on her person, one in each boot and one located in her braid. We used these to escape as we surmised that the bunker was underground and therefore it was unlikely our transponder signals would reach our ships' systems.

"We reached the bunker's exit just as they were catching up with us. As we were fleeing, Dr. Richards got shot in the shoulder, causing Dr. Sheppard to pause to assist him. At that point Dr. Sheppard was shot in the leg. I then picked up Dr. Sheppard to carry her as we fled our Genii captors. Shortly thereafter Specialist Hunter received his gunshot wound in his side. Mere seconds later, the Phoenix beamed us aboard. The doctors currently have Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Richards, and Specialist Hunter are currently in surgery," Yu'tra finished, his back as ramrod straight as it had been when he had started, though John could see he was visibly exhausted.

"When was the last time you received a shot of Tretonin, Specialist Yu'tra?" John asked, concerned, Tretonin was something that was supposed to be taken like clockwork.

"Two weeks ago, sir. I am currently a part of the nanite trials Dr. Lam is conducting," Yu'tra responded promptly.

"Have you been checked to ensure that the stunner fire you took didn't disrupt the nanites in you?" John questioned.

"Yes, sir. The doctor said that it had occurred. However, he also said that as long as I report to Dr. Lam as soon as we return to Atlantis to receive a new batch, I should be fine," Yu'tra answered.

"Well, we are back over Atlantis, Specialist Yu'tra, so head to the transporter room now and tell the tech I told you to be beamed directly to the main infirmary. Specialist Treale, you go with him to ensure that he makes it. Also, have the doctor present double check you," John ordered. Yu'tra and Jinto immediately nodded and filed out of the ship's infirmary.

A nurse came over to him as soon as the teens were gone, "Gen. Sheppard, Dr. Sullivan, who is handling your daughter's surgery, said that the bullet thankfully missed anything vital and was a through and through. He is making sure the damage is properly stitched up, but she should be able to be transported down to the main infirmary. Dr. Thompson requested that as soon we reached Atlantis to have assistance in surgery with Specialist Hunter as the bullet that hit him nicked his liver. Dr. Black has also requested assistance with Dr. Richards as there was significant tissue damage to his shoulder."

"If you will show me to the operating rooms, I can be of assistance. I brought my hand device in case it was needed," Vala announced.

The nurse looked uncertain, but John gave the order, "Dr. Richards first, it looked like he lost more blood. Just enough that he doesn't have permanent damage, Vala. There are two of them and I know that thing drains your energy."

Vala held up the device and the nurse sighed before leading her through a door. Another opened and John saw a doctor wheeling out a cot with his daughter on it. The doctor nodded at John, "She'll be just fine, if given time to heal. It was on the outer part of her thigh, thankfully, and almost more of a graze than a through and through. The damage was minimal."

"That's good to hear," John said and while he looked at his daughter, he didn't touch her. He was covered in filth and she had plenty of scratches on her face and arms, undoubtedly from tree branches and brush. "She can be sent down now?"

"Yes, of course," Dr. Sullivan answered with a smile. "I hope you sent Specialist Yu'tra down to Atlantis already, I suspect that the stunner damaged the nanites he has."

"He confirmed that they had, he's already gone down with Specialist Treale," John confirmed as they walked to the transporter room.

He was sent down with Rikki, directly into the infirmary, along with Todd, and they immediately got yelled at by Beckett to get out of the infirmary until they had cleaned up. As they left, O'Neill was waiting, "How are they?"

"Rikki took a bullet in the leg. The damage isn't too bad, but it's gonna suck recovering for her unless we have someone heal it for her. Yu'tra's nanites were disrupted, but Lam should have dealt with that by now. Wex took a bullet to the side and Tom one to the shoulder. They were still in surgery, but Vala headed in to give the doctors a little technical assistance, so I expect they will be done soon enough. It was Genii, going on their uniforms and Yu'tra's report, so I would suggest inviting Ladon here. Of course, even if he did sanction it, I doubt he will admit it and he'll claim it was rouge agents," John shrugged, exhausted now that his daughter was safe and those who perpetrated the act dead. "Of course, we left dead bodies in our wake, so that should be a pretty clear message of our view on kidnapping our people."

Jack snorted at that, "And I have no doubt they were chopped up by the nice little lightsabers Rikki made for us. If Ladon was involved, he undoubtedly will be looking to damage control. It's not like he could have anticipated you actually letting Rikki out of the city, so it's more likely that he was just going after a Lantean scientist and accidently got our girl."

"I'm thinking the same thing, but I think making the message clear that we won't tolerate any of our people being taken and we are vicious if you hurt them will act as a strong deterrent. It's not like these worlds have a lot military strength compared to us," John pointed out.

"And it doesn't hurt that Lantea is, with the addition of the Travelers to our group, the only ones besides the Wraith with space capable ships," Jack added.

John nodded, "Well, we're going to go clean off the blood of our enemies, get Tom and Rikki a change of clothing and let their friends know that they'll be okay, if a little sore tomorrow."

"You know, I'm starting to think it's bad luck to be part Alteran. The more Alteran you are, the higher the odds of you getting kidnapped. Rikki's got to be the youngest out of our lot to be taken," Jack joked.

"Yeah, well I'm hoping to prevent this from being a habit for her… and Fianna. Hell, I don't even like it being a habit for me. Hopefully, you've managed to actually break it," John countered.

"Oh, now you've jinxed me," Jack grumbled as John waved at him. "I want a report on the rescue mission tomorrow."

"Will do," John responded easily.

He and Todd made a quick trip to their quarters, showered at the same time for efficiency and then collected Rikki's friends and some clothing for her and Tom. By the time they made it back to the infirmary, Nancy was sitting with Rikki, though she hadn't woken yet. Tom was on the next bed over and also just as unconscious. Keller and Beckett were settling Wex onto the third bed while Vala gave John a wave, yawning, and announced she was going to eat a pint of ice cream and then take a nap. Mitchell followed after her, John had no doubt to keep the woman from passing out in her ice cream.

"Well, Vala repaired the worst of the damage for them both. They will likely be sore for the next week or so, but Vala repaired the tissue damage and the nick to Specialist Hunter's liver, so it's pretty much just the soreness of healing muscles," Keller told John as he gave the two men appraising looks. "We just confirmed the repairs with the scanner."

John gave her a nod, "Glad to hear they will be back on their feet sooner rather than later."

John settled in on Rikki's side opposite Nancy with Todd as Sam joined them and held up the healing device, "Jack said Rikki could use a little assist. I figure if I don't do it for her, she might try healing herself. Not sure how well that would work, so I'd rather avoid it."

John nodded agreement at that. Nancy looked uncertain but shifted out of Sam's way. Rikki's hospital gown was pushed up to reveal the bandage over her wound. Beckett came over and removed it, revealing the mottled bruising that showed that while the bullet may not have done any major damage, it had to have hurt like hell. Sam held the device over Rikki's injury and closed her eyes in concentration.

John watched, a little fascinated as the coloring of the bruising shifted and then faded, and the hole where the bullet had entered her leg, which was the only side visible from his position, puckered and then closed leaving pink scar tissue. Sam opened her eyes and pulled the device away from where the injury was, "That should do it. She should still take it easy on that leg for the next few days, as it's going to be stiff and tender, but she should be able to walk fine."

Beckett nodded as he neatly removed the stitching holding the now healed wound closed. He shifted Rikki's leg to get to the back part to remove those stitches as well, "Alright, well, I am looking forward to having these things as standard equipment." He commented as he walked away.

"No kidding, do you have any idea how much time I have had to spend in this infirmary? It's obnoxious," John commented.

Rikki, having had the fastest surgery, was the first to wake up. She accepted the change of clothing from John with clear relief and fled to the nearby bathroom to change with a nod from Beckett. Yu'tra arrived at that point and John informed him that he wanted a full report of entire mission, including what mistakes had been made, and the better decisions could have been made by the end of the next day. Yu'tra seemed to take this in stride and accepted his dismissal. John figured that he could go handle his worried mate.

Tom and Wex woke up around the same time. Tom winced, but it didn't stop him from accepting the change of clothing so that he and Rikki could head back to the suite they shared with the rest of their friends. Wex remained silent, waiting for the others to leave, Nancy hovering over her daughter with clear concern. Once the area was mostly clear except for John and Jinto, Wex straightened himself up.

"Sir, permission to give a report of the events," Wex looked a little uncomfortable.

John raised an eyebrow at that, "Specialist Yu'tra already told me what happened, and how they got the drop on you, if that's what you are going to tell me."

Wex shook his head, "Not that, sir. I… if you recall, those of us who are Athosian Wraithkin, you ordered us to work with the Wraithkin to work on developing our inherited telepathy and mental shields." He paused looking to John for confirmation.

"Yeah, Todd said you did great in your last assessment. Said you were almost as strong as Teyla was. That with time, you could be stronger even," John confirmed. It was true too.

"Well, um… I… I think I picked up some of the surface thoughts of the man who was apparently in charge… He… it wasn't aloud, I don't think, but he was thinking about how this could risk a future alliance with Lantea after the coup… That we're pushovers with most things, but if that no one would overlook kidnapping your daughter. He… he also seemed to consider how to 'pin it on Ladon' to get your support after the coup succeeded," Wex looked decidedly uncomfortable.

John took this information in before nodding slowly, "Have you been picking up other thoughts besides this one incident, or is this isolated?"

"It's the first time, sir. I think it was because he was panicked and worked up about accidently taking Dr. Sheppard. I… well from what Todd has told us, he said that the way Wraith telepathy works is that pain and fear create openings into the minds of humans for us… us being the Wraithkin and Wraith, to exploit. I think a lot of people here have decent natural defenses, since everyone on Atlantis knows about your telepathy, sir, and try to build them up, even if it's just to prevent accidental projection. I don't think I'm anywhere near strong enough to break through those, unlike you, but an unsuspecting person from another world…" Wex looked incredibly uncomfortable at the idea if intentionally invading someone's mind.

"Wex, it's important to remember that sometimes you're in a life and death situation, and in those situations, a lot of the normal rules don't apply. You wouldn't kill someone on Atlantis, just because they got you angry, but if you are in a kill or be killed situation, you'll have to make that call. This is the same thing. If you are in a life or death situation, the risks are high, it's okay to get inside the enemy's head, to find out what they're thinking. You didn't do anything wrong. It would be stupid to pass up a tactical advantage like that in a fight. As it happens, now we know that Ladon wasn't involved in this, because any Genii coup that occurs is going to be against him," John pointed out.

Wex nodded slowly, "And if we warn Ladon, it gives us leverage."

"Exactly. And that makes him maybe a little more flexible. As it is, I don't know if you noticed this, but he didn't put up nearly as much of a fuss as I expected towards the Wraithkin. Now, maybe that's because he got shot down so hard, so fast, by Princess Flora, or maybe because he can see the advantages the Wraithkin present, even if he isn't happy about the deal made with them," John shrugged. "Point is that we are in a better position than I thought we would be in."

"I don't think I enjoy the politics that go into being a military leader," Wex admitted, with grin.

"I don't either. I just don't get that option. Much like George Washington, my opinion wasn't consulted when the Wraithkin made me their leader," John pointedly glared at the young man.

"That's because we know that you are a great leader, even if you don't want the job," Jinto responded before Wex could. He set a change of clothing down on the bed. "Who is George Washington?"

"The first American President, and the General of the Congressional Armies during the American Revolutions. He had a lot of flaws, and wasn't always the best man, but he was tactically brilliant and knew how to motivate his men, which was what was what the people wanted back then," John shrugged.

"Oh, well, you are a great leader and a great man, sir. I am sure that is why all the Wraithkin want you to be their leader," Jinto smiled.

"More likely that most of them also think I'm also the most ruthless of them," John responded.

"Only when you need to be, sir," Wex shot back quickly.

John sighed a little uncomfortable himself now, "Right, well, I already gave this order to Yu'tra, so same to you. I want you and Jinto writing out a full mission report, go over what mistakes you made, what you could have done better, what you think the others could have done better, I want it on my desk before end of day tomorrow. Now get some rest." The young men seemed to relax without realizing it. He could deliver the lecture on situational awareness when they turned in their reports. As it was, Wex had given John some serious food for thought.


	25. Chapter 25

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: This chapter is written from Ladon's perspective, occurring during and after the previous chapter. Enjoy. :)**

Chapter 25: The Ruin of the Genii

Ladon read through the report slowly, taking in all the information with a sinking feeling even though it was what he had anticipated, only worse, "Are we certain of these results?"

The Head of Health nodded grimly, "Unfortunately so, sir. The only people who have no signs of the toxins in their system are roughly 37 younger children out in the mining country. The closer the person is to our testing labs…"

"The worst the toxicity levels. This has all the numbers?" Ladon prayed they were wrong, even if he knew that they weren't. The Head of Health would never be stupid enough to bring him incorrect data.

"Yes, sir. Permission to make my recommendations?" He was polite.

Ladon nodded, "I have an idea of what you want to say but go ahead."

"If we wish to preserve the Genii people, those with the lowest levels of the toxin in the bodies, and those without it at all, need to level the planet immediately. I believe the toxin is the direct result of our decline in births," The man, Yara urged. "The 37 who don't have any sign of the toxins may or may not be immune to them, but it isn't a risk we should be taking. They are also too young to survive on their own in the long-term."

Ladon nodded before covering his mouth as he let out a ragged, wet cough, "That's what I was anticipating. Fortunately, the Lanteans made an offer at the summit that, if this weren't an issue I would never consider, but… if it means the preservation of the Genii…"

"What was the offer, sir?" Yara asked. Ladon wasn't surprised that the man didn't know. He hadn't told anyone and ordered his guards to remain silent on the matter.

"They are welcoming all the children of Pegasus to receive an education on Atlantis. It is, undoubtedly an intent to corrupt them into being obedient, soft, and loyal on the long-term, but it will mean that the children will survive, and the children of the Genii aren't weak and susceptible to such influences. If we send copies of our histories as well, the Lanteans will feel compelled to teach our children it. They are such compassionate creatures, I can't imagine them refusing to teach our children of their homeworld," Ladon was bitter about this.

He had lived his entire life being taught that compassion was weakness. To care only for one's family and Genia. To be loyal only to one's family and Genia. This was, ultimately, Cowen's fault. The fool had set this in motion long before Ladon had taken over. Sure, Ladon hadn't realized the problem had been there, but then the project had been started before he had even been Chief Scientist. He didn't know that the radiation from their nuclear testing was leaking out into their water supple. That over the years it had not only tainted their food with low levels of radiation but had also triggered a mutation in their crops.

A mutation that created a chemical that in low dosages wouldn't be immediately obvious, but as it built up in their systems, and it did build up in their systems since their bodies apparently lacked the capacity to flush it, it caused systematic failure of the organs. The quest to develop their technology, to improve their superiority, was what was killing them all. For most of the population, the damage was too much already, and the people were dropping more rapidly as the weeks progressed. They had only started to fall sick and dying in large numbers in the past six months, but Ladon suspected that the slowly increasing deaths over the past few years were likely caused by the same thing.

Thus, it was the height of irony that the only way to save his people's heritage was to seek the compassion of the Lanteans. The Lanteans who had, over the years, won over more and more allies from the Genii. The Lanteans that had advanced to greater heights of technology than Ladon had once imagined possible. The Lanteans who had succeeded, where the Genii were failing, and they did it all the while showing compassion, and mercy, even to the supposed worst of their enemies. Oh, Ladon had no doubt the Lanteans could be as ruthless as any Genii, Gen. John Sheppard was living proof of that. That man had the kind of resilience that Ladon was baffled by, and had no qualms with killing well over 70 people in a matter of hours, 55 of them being killed with a mere press of a button that he then jammed to force the Stargate's shield to remain active.

No, the biggest irony of all was that the Lanteans had proven that their honesty and reliability had ensured loyal allies from many worlds, such as Harmony. They had proven that compassion, such as that shown to Athosians on their first meeting, had earned them respect and trust. Trust that meant that the knowledge the Athosians had held about other worlds was shared quickly. This knowledge the Lanteans then used to establish themselves among the worlds of Pegasus. Yes, it was the height of irony that all the things that Ladon had been taught were worthless and for the weak, had proven to be a significant force in the strength the Lanteans had now. Strength, despite having lost their homeworld less than a year ago. Strength that now Ladon would have to ask for to ensure that the Genii did not go extinct from their own stubborn pride.

Ladon listened to Yara's suggestion that they send those who were capable of recovering or weren't sick, all of whom were children, none over the age of fifteen, to Atlantis immediately. Only 37 were without any toxins in their systems, another 49 had low enough levels that the Lanteans should be able to heal them. Ladon kept his expression neutral, even as he wished he had a grave of Cowen's to spit on so that he could show his contempt for the fool. Of course, he was a fool too. The first thing he should have done when he seized control was ensure that safety measures were being taken properly. He knew that Cowen had ignored the warnings of the Lanteans about the dangers of the radiation from their very first meeting. He had seen his sister sick and dying, only to be saved by the compassion of the Lanteans who were more technologically advanced. Of course, he should have looked into the matter. But should have was a much too little, far, far too late.

Even if he had, it was likely that it wouldn't have been enough to save them. The mutation to the crops were likely already present back then. The doctors said it took time to build up the toxic chemical to lethal levels. They also said that he probably had a few weeks left to live. Ladon counted himself lucky that he wasn't already a corpse. For the sake of the Genii he had to move quickly. There was word of a potential coup and though it was irrelevant to him whether or not he was murdered or died from this toxin at this point, it could delay the safety of the children, perhaps to the point of destroying the Genii all together.

He let Yara finish giving his recommendations and coughed painfully before wiping the blood away and sighing, "I am assuming you have a list of names of the children who can be saved."

"Yes, sir. The last page," Yara answered swiftly.

"Very well, send in my military commander," Ladon responded, sipping at some of the tainted water. It was irrelevant now whether or not it contained low levels of radiation. It wasn't as if it would make a difference at this point and there weren't exactly any better options.

Yara gave a respectful nod and left. Less than a minute later, his Military commander entered. Ladon pulled the list of names on the back page and handed it over to the man, "Gather these children. The Lanteans have offered the opportunity to educate our children and these are the ones who have been selected for it. Tell their families it's a great honor, that they will be under the care and educational guidance of the child of an Ancestor. That their children will be given a far better advantage in their educations and thus will bring the Genii Confederation to new heights until we surpass even the Lanteans' wildest dreams. Though it is also likely they will not see them again, so to give their most sincere farewells."

"I'm assuming these children are the ones who aren't dying then. I'll send our most trusted men for them immediately. It should be no more than three days until we will have them to be sent to the Lanteans," The Commander responded by route.

Ladon grimaced and gave a nod, "I also need copies of our histories to be sent to the Lanteans as well. I intend to ensure that our children know their homeworld's histories. Finally, I need an escort for a trip to Atlantis, for this afternoon. I need to inform their… council of our decision to send them 86 of our children for education."

"Of course, sir," His Commander responded respectfully. He paused, before speaking again. "And sir, in my opinion, you're making the right choice. The Genii are a resilient people. Our children will carry our world's history and the Genii will rise again, to greater heights than any can imagine. It may not be the most appealing choice, but it is better to preserve our people now, than let us turn to ash with no one to honor our legacy. Our will is stronger than the Lanteans. Our children will undoubtedly be the eventual inheritors of Atlantis and when that time comes, the Genii will have no equal, not even the Wraith."

Ladon gave him a stiff, false smile. He knew that the man was loyal to him to a fault. He was one of the ones that had chosen Ladon over Cowen and Kolya because those two were all about power, without focusing on what was necessary to truly obtain it. That made them fools in the long-term and it was how Ladon had brought both to their downfall. In another irony if he had not betrayed Kolya to Cowen, causing Kolya to flee and later take Sheppard hostage, Gen. Sheppard likely would never have met his husband and the Wraithkin would not be in Atlantis, strengthening it further, in their own twisted way.

Ladon could only hope that the children sent to Atlantis would keep apart from the Lanteans and their Wraithkin. That they would learn but remember their heritage too. It was unlikely and yet a wish he still maintained. He worked through the paperwork that was utterly useless. Food supplies, mining resources, research advancement, it was all pointless. All of those closest to the nuclear development labs had perhaps a few weeks if they hadn't already died. The adults and teens further away had perhaps six months if they were fortunate, or perhaps unfortunate given the fact that they would undoubtedly understand their fate as more and more people around them died. They would be better off if he just put them out of their miseries. Now that was an idea.

Ladon grudgingly ate his meal when it was brought, for all that it would do him little beyond easing the cramping in his stomach slightly. When he was informed that his escort was ready, Ladon locked away the paperwork. There was no need to cause mass panic now, just because they were all doomed. He contemplated the idea of giving everyone the Hoffen Drug and deactivating the shield device that the Lanteans had given them. If he did that, then at least his people's deaths wouldn't be in vain. Not that it would do much good. It would only cause the hive, once it realized they were defenseless, to bombard them. Though, that would still be a swifter, less painful death for his people. Ladon straightened his posture, ensuring he moved with grace, even if it caused him agony to do so.

He repressed the pain and then dialed Atlantis, putting in his IDC when the wormhole established. The light on the device went from red to green and Ladon led the way through the stargate. He took a moment on the other side to adjust to the world's slightly stronger gravity, a moment necessary due to his weakened state, before walking forward, a polite, if completely insincere smile on his face. Col. Lorne approached, clearly having been in the proximity of the stargate to have arrived so quickly.

"Mr. Radim, we were just about to send a team through to talk to you. Gen. Sheppard's unit received intel that he thought you would consider valuable," Lorne's smile was peculiarly open and friendly. Lorne was one of the affable personnel that the Lanteans used to gain favor with other worlds, a counterbalance to Sheppard's lethality. It wasn't surprising that he seemed to have a genuine smile permanently fixed upon his face.

"I see, well, whatever information you obtained might be of interest to me, however, the reason I came was to speak with your council. I have made the decision that we will be sending a select group of children here for an education," Ladon responded, glancing over to where he noticed one of the city's Wraithkin standing.

The creature appeared to be glaring at him even as Lorne radioed to speak with, presumably, Gen. Sheppard, or the other military leader, who Ladon had absolutely no interest in interacting with. Sheppard, Ladon could tolerate, if only because he understood Sheppard's motivations. They, like Ladon's revolved around the necessity of survival for his people. Ladon had neither the time nor energy to attempt to assess the new military leader of the Lanteans. He would much rather deal with Sheppard. However, the creature was now approaching him.

"You!" The Wraithkin shouted as he attempted to lunge at Ladon.

He had been too focused on the Wraithkin as he had missed three others, all humans who seemed to have seen the Wraithkin's intent and interfered. They just barely held back the seething creature, that Ladon now saw was heavy with a child. Meanwhile, even as the creature was spat out accusations, "How dare you come here, defiler! You thief of mates! I'll tear you apart!" The creature shrieked.

"Menelaus, enough!" Lorne snapped, having lost his pleasant disposition and placed himself between Ladon and the Wraithkin.

Ladon's escort had done the same, not that they would manage much if the creature broke free. They were hardly physically in any better shape than Ladon was. Ladon then heard Sheppard's voice bark out the order of, "Enough!" However, it almost felt like a physical impact, the single word ringing in his ears, and then Ladon's careful control failed him and he felt his world fade to black.

When he woke, he was laying on a bed in the Lanteans' infirmary, his head throbbing far worse than it had been before he had gone to Atlantis. He glanced to his left and then right, seeing his men on beds. Ladon then glanced to the front and saw Sheppard's attack dog, Dex leaning against the wall. He had tapped on his earpiece and was speaking into it for a moment. He didn't bother talking to Ladon, which Ladon would have taken offence to, but he knew that Dex viewed him as lesser. It was fair, in a way, too. Sateda had been more technologically advanced then the Genii before it's fall. That world had gotten far closer to the Lanteans than Genii ever would and they had done it without poisoning themselves.

Ladon let out a weak huff of self-mockery in the realization that he was staring at the future of the children he would send here. They would be the few, solitary survivors of a shattered world, destroyed in part by their own hubris in the belief that they would be the ones to defeat the Wraith, seeking shelter with the true victors. Before Ladon could continue the thought, a concerned Dr. Keller and Gen. Sheppard entered the room. They had a strange looking woman and an oddly dressed man with them.

Keller immediately walked over to him, "Welcome back to the land of the living… though it looks like you might… well… there's no easy way to say this, but Ladon, are you aware that your body is…" She looked uncomfortable.

"That I'm dying you mean? Yes, I was aware. Our doctors give me a few weeks at most. It is why I must act now. My people are dying. Only a few children, living far from our… well only a few children are capable of even being saved," Ladon finished with a bought of racking coughs, the blood undoubtedly getting on the sleeve he used to cover his mouth.

"Well, that explains why you're here… and why your guards aren't in any better shape than you are. Sorry about the making you collapse thing, by the way, I'm still working on my mental control. Todd says I probably overwhelmed you guys. I put a little too much force into the mental order," Sheppard looked sheepish. Ladon would press him on what he was talking but realized that it didn't really matter if he had answers or not.

"We have 86 children that are still healthy, or healthy enough that with your help, they should recover. The rest of us… our medical personnel say we have no more than six months at best," Ladon forced himself to focus on the important matter, the survival of the Genii. "You said you would educate the children of other worlds. If those who are still healthy remain, it will only be a matter of time before they fall ill as well. Our crops… they're poison. We only realized a few months ago, as the number of deaths significantly increased. Already the Genii population is plummeting."

"How many are in as bad a state as you are, Ladon?" Keller asked gently.

"A large majority, roughly 76% of the population will die within the month," Ladon burst into another coughing fit. "The rest… it varies depending on the proximity to the testing sites. The healthier children are from the mining areas, the ones furthest from the Stargate and also from our main sites. The radiation caused a mutation in the crops. We caught it too late. But children eat less so they have taken less of the toxins in."

The strange looking woman came forward, "I am Lya of the Nox. I have examined you and… though I wish the situation otherwise, I must admit that the… damage that has occurred to your bodies is beyond my people's capabilities to help. I am in truth quite surprised you are even still alive. It appears, from my examination of you, that you are experiencing rapid cellular decay. That said, if 24% of you populous isn't as… injured as you are, we may be able to help them."

"How?" Ladon asked with extreme suspicion. On closer inspection, it was clear that she wasn't human. Her hair, if it was hair at all, looked more like twigs, her eyes were solid black, and her skin had an odd quality of pale purple to it.

"My people, the Nox, have the capability to heal damage to a person's body, even to the point of healing mortal injuries, provided that the body has not begun to decay. Unfortunately, even though you still live, your body, as well as those of your companions, have already begun a state of necrosis that is not reversible for my people. It is a testament to your fortitude that you were even able to walk in your current physical state," Lya answered calmly, she clearly took no offence to Ladon's suspicions.

Ladon gave a weak laugh before forcing himself to sit up in the bed, "No Genii will kneel, even when faced with death. I am the leader of my people and until I draw my last breath, I will do what is necessary to ensure the survival of my people. In this case, that means ensuring that the Lanteans will take the healthy among our children, educate them, and ensure that they know the history of their people. Those who are adults, I doubt you truly possess the ability to heal them and I don't trust you to try." The Nox woman looked sadden by his statement but didn't argue.

Sheppard sighed before relaxing into his typical irreverent attitude, "Right, well, provided that you actually share your history, I'm sure Abby would be happy accommodate the request of your kids being taught your history. She's nice like that. In the meantime, Per'sus here has a proposition for you, or rather your people."

Ladon raised an eyebrow before looking at the man who was dressed in peculiar clothing, "I am Per'sus, the Supreme High Councilor of the Tok'ra. My species are symbiotic and require hosts as we desire to grow our numbers that have been dwindling for some time. While the damage to the bodies of yourself and your companions is too significant to heal, if the damage were even a fraction less than what it is in yourself, it is within the ability of a Tok'ra symbiote to repair. In addition to this, being a host will lead to a longer lifespan and perfect health for the host. All we ask for in return for this is shared control over the body of the host. If, as you say, 24% of your population is not in as severe a state of necrosis as you are, than that is 24% of your population that can be saved, if they agree to be hosts for the Tok'ra."

Ladon recoiled from the creature in disgust, "You expect that my people would willingly share their bodies with another? If I were to suggest such a thing, even my most loyal men would plot to murder me this very night. No Genii would allow another creature to take control of our bodies, even if it meant our death. If I won't allow the Nox lady over there to heal us to gain influence over us, what makes you think we would accept your offer?"

Sheppard spoke before Per'sus could respond further, "Now, Ladon, hear him out. You need to be aware that there's only so much we can do to help. While we have the hand devices, they aren't a cure-all. The Nox have confirmed that they wouldn't be able to do any more than the Nox themselves could do and the Nox say anyone with even half the necrotic tissue that you have would be beyond their help. The Tok'ra are making a generous offer. They have a decent sized number of symbiotes that are only just reaching maturity. Not only would you be able to save a much larger number of your people but Tok'ra symbiotes that blend with a host take on and share their memories, their knowledge. Your people would be carried on through the symbiotes long after the great-great-great grandchildren of Genii children you want us to take will be dead. You can't ask for a greater way of your culture and legacy being remembered."

"I will not even suggest such a thing to my people. Nor will you allow it to occur to our children if I bring them here. I would rather our people fade into oblivion than to submit our bodies to such a debasement," Ladon spoke with vitriol. If it were not for those 86 children that could be saved, he would force his men awake and walk away. The next best option, however, were the Mararians and they would not be capable of educating the Genii children as the Lanteans would, much less helping the ones that were sick.

"You need not fear, no Tok'ra would take an unwilling host. I can see you are sincere and thus, I will leave you," Per'sus gave a nod before leaving.

Lya looked saddened by this, "I am sorry that you are not compatible. The Tok'ra have worked hard for their goals, though we do not always approve of the means they used. I assure you though, the children you send, we will insure are free of this sickness and will be well cared for."

"What do you mean by that?" Ladon asked, concerned still. This woman was no less foreign than the Tok'ra that had departed.

"Well, the Nox care for the orphaned children on Atlantis. They enjoy it and they are purely pacifists, so it's completely safe to trust them. I'm sure you wouldn't want your kids getting adopted by Lantean families, or at least that's what I'm assuming, so the Nox would care for them until they are sixteen," Sheppard explained.

Ladon considered this before turning to Lya, "And you will not deny the Genii the truth of their people?"

"Of course not. The Nox believe that everyone deserves compassion, care, and the truth. We oversee a great deal of the children's educations as well as providing emotional support and seeing that the children who have no families of their own know that they are important and that everyone contributes their own personal value with their actions," Lya replied with an absolutely calm demeanor.

Ladon turned to Sheppard, "Pacifists? Right… Just… keep those Tok'ra away from the children. I don't want one 'accidentally' ending up in a Genii child."

"That's not a concern. The Tok'ra have the tank of their symbiotes without a host in a secure location and they can't take children as hosts either. The brain has to be fully developed, so no one younger than 25 would work anyway," Sheppard assured him.

Ladon relaxed at this. Finally, he nodded, "Very well then. How long until my men wake? I need to return to Genia. There are things that still require overseeing, even before we bring the children here."

"Well, I don't think it will take much longer. I caused some others to get some headaches, but you guys were the only ones to collapse. Yu'tra, the husband of Menelaus is a bit pissed because I used the mental command on Menelaus when he was pregnant. His baby's fine though. It's too early for me to have done any developmental damage," Sheppard relaxed. "Sorry, about Menelaus freaking out on you though. I guess that Yu'tra hadn't gotten around to informing him that the kidnapping wasn't your Genii's fault."

"I take it that has something to do with the information you wished to share?" Ladon questioned. He had no idea what a 'mental command' was, but it was clear that it was what caused his people to pass-out.

Sheppard nodded, "Yesterday, several of our people were kidnapped from a market world. When they woke, they realized they had, to all appearances been taken by Genii. However, one of my men, who was among those taken, overheard them intending on using the scientists taken for an advantage in a planned coup."

Ladon relaxed to realize they weren't being accused of something that the Genii under him and loyal hadn't actually done, "Ah, that. Yes, I was already aware that there is an intended coup in the works. It is all rather irrelevant as the parties involved have no hope of pulling it off within the next few days and after that, it won't matter at all. I am assuming you rescued your people."

"Kind of, they managed to get out of the bunker themselves and were headed for the gate when we reached them. I have to admit, my people know how to bust out of a prison. We dealt with the rest of the bunker, so if you want to collect the bodies, we can give you the gate address," Sheppard shrugged casually. "Got to admit though, it takes a special kind of stupid to take my daughter and think that they can keep her in a cell."

Ladon gaped at him, "They took your daughter?"

"Like I said, a special kind of stupid. Granted, they didn't know it was her before they got back to the bunker and someone, presumably someone you've brought to Atlantis over the past few months for meetings, IDed her. Then again thinking you can take any person that is Lantean and not have it rain hell down on you…" Sheppard shrugged. "Not exactly bright. I can see why you aren't too concerned about them."

"Yes, well, if that is all?" Ladon really didn't want to be stuck conversing with Sheppard while he waited for his men to wake. He could respect the man, but that didn't mean that he would ever like him or understand him.

"Just one more thing and I'll leave you to your brooding. You aren't the reason that Todd and I are married now. Yes, you betrayed Kolya, and yes, that is why Todd and I met. But every single moment and interaction after that, that was me and Todd making the right choices, or at least the best options we thought we had. There are plenty of other realities out there, and I'm sure that in most of them, Todd and I didn't make those right choices and thus aren't where we are in this one. I'll say this though, I'm damned glad that I made the choices I did. Because, and this may seem strange to you, being a Genii, I love my husband. I do. Todd and I understand each other, and while I can't pin-point the exact moment that wary distrust, but mutual benefit shifted to trust and respect and then like, but I can pin-point the moment I realized that I wanted him to stay alive, though I wasn't sure why at the time, and that was long after we escaped from Kolya," Sheppard's tone made it clear that he had taken great offence to the idea that Ladon thought he was responsible for their relationship.

The problem was that Ladon hadn't told _anyone _that sentiment. His jaw hung open in shock. He hadn't even thought that thought while on Atlantis, "How…?"

Sheppard smirked almost viciously as he whispered to Ladon, "The best part about this is that even if you babble on about the fact that no one's mind is safe from me, no thoughts, no matter how old, can't be accessed by me, no one off of Atlantis is going to believe you and no Lantean is going to care because they already know. They know and they still trust me to be the best protection they can have. They trust me to protect them _because _they know I can enter any mind I want to. And I came by it honestly too. Thanks for the intel on your other hidden bunkers, by the way. You have absolutely no mental defenses. I'd suggest you work on that, but it's not going to do you much good, what with you dying and all that." With that he straightened and whistled as he departed.

Dex remained, looking completely unfazed by the display. Ladon narrowed his eyes at the man, "I wonder how you can tolerate all those… creatures so near to you. They were born monsters, born Wraith, born to kill and yet they walk these sacred halls as if they aren't the enemy."

Ronon snorted, "Shows what you know. I have two sons, both adopted, Liam is human, Cooria is Wraithkin. Know what I see from Cooria? Nothing that Liam doesn't do too. Hell, Cooria is two years younger than Liam and half the time he's copying his older brother, so no, they aren't born monsters. They are turned into them by necessity, but not all of them want it and plenty have taken the opportunity to be free of the hunger that we've provided. They left hives while their queens refused the offer. They walked away from the only life they've ever known to become something better. It's funny, but I'd have to say that the Wraithkin that reside in these walls, they have more courage, more strength, more honor in their little fingers than you Genii have in your entire, rotting bodies. Seems fitting to me that they are rewarded for taking the risk to be better people, while you are punished for your cowardice."

Ladon was about to speak but his men were waking and then the doctors were there ensuring that if while not healthy, they were capable of moving about. After that, Abigail Lorne, as she introduced herself as the head of Education for the Lanteans, and Dr. Torres arrived and brought Ladon to a conference room to discuss the particulars, when the children would be brought to Atlantis, age range, how many, what they would be bringing with them. Ladon answered as best he could and when they finished, he was assured that the Genii history would be made available to not just all the children he sent but would also be an option for all Lantean children. At the end of the discussion, Ladon did casually inquire about Sheppard being able to read minds. Abigail Lorne seemed mildly amused by it and confirmed it with ease. Ladon realized that Sheppard hadn't bluffing about the people of Atlantis knowing the truth. The Lorne woman, apparently the mother of Col. Lorne, didn't even seem surprised that Ladon knew.

He paused and turned to talk to her just before he left, "Gen. Sheppard doesn't mind that people know he can read minds?"

"It's common knowledge on Atlantis and honestly, he's been put on too high a pedestal to be knocked down by his telepathy. Everyone here just sees it as an advantage," She smirked in an eerily similar manner to Sheppard.

"And those off Atlantis?" Ladon couldn't help asking.

"Those who believed you would only attribute it to his ever-growing mythos. John is my cousin, biologically speaking, though we never knew each other growing up, our mothers were both Alteran and sisters, and I still can't believe some of the things that man has accomplished. Honestly, you couldn't hurt him by spreading the information. No one wants to go up against a man who can read their minds and if you're an ally, what better protector would you seek. Even you, with the Genii's… checkered past with Atlantis, are willing to hand your children over to us because you know John Sheppard will protect anyone who he believes is in his care and if a person, regardless of species, lives on this world, they are in his care, as far as John's concerned," Abigail Lorne responded with another smirk.

"Ah, so that explains the superficial similarities between Col. Lorne, yourself, and Gen. Sheppard. Your family is a dangerous group to cross, I've learnt that the hard way," Ladon admitted, covering another cough.

"I know. Evan told me about your little coup, and let me tell you, consider yourself lucky, because you're already dying, I see no need to hunt you down and make you feel a world of hurt for being willing to sacrifice my boy for your agenda. I think it's a trait of the Roalbel side of the family. You hurt our babies and we'll cut a bitch, and believe me you are the bitch," Abigail Lorne's smirk was now predatory and all too familiar. It was the look Sheppard got when he knew he was about to destroy you.

Ladon felt a rush of relief as he made it back to Genia. His men were clearly unsettled by the conversation and casual threats to Ladon, but also understood why Ladon hadn't risen to lash out at Lorne or Sheppard, they were dying and the children needed the Lanteans' protection, as much as Ladon despised the sentiment. Ladon, once back in his office, sent orders for a team to investigate the bunker that Sheppard had given them the address to. He also gave strict orders not to connect any hard drives to the computers in the bunker. There was no telling what kind of havoc could have been planted by the Wraithkin into the computers. Even if they were dead soon, there was no need to destroy their legacy unnecessarily. He needed to ensure that when their children returned to Genia, after they grew up, they would be able to retrieve their information and learn from it.

Three days later, Ladon stood before the gathered group of children, the oldest at age fourteen and the youngest were toddlers. He gave them a sweeping, assessing gaze. Ladon recognized these children as those who are like he and his sister were once ripped from their homes, uncertain about their futures. He wouldn't be tucking them into a bunker though, underground, and terrified. They would be going to a beautiful, shining city of technology, floating on an ocean, but protected by shields that meant they would never have to fear the Wraith, even if they had to coexist with Wraithkin for the immediate future.

He finally spoke, "Congratulations, you are lucky. You're the chosen few have been selected to represent the Genii people in the future. At present, as much as it pains me to say this, the Genii are dying. Our world is dying. I hope you gave your last goodbyes to your families because before a year has passed, anyone remaining on this world will be dead. Cowen, the cowardly, traitorous leader that I so prudently disposed of, poisoned our world. Only you youths standing before me have managed to evade this poison, through distance from it's sickening source. The Lanteans, generously, though perhaps imprudently, have offered to welcome the children of other worlds to educate them so that they might one day stand on equal footing.

"However, I expect that every single child standing before me will advance themselves beyond what the Lanteans are even capable of. You will use the education they provide and then you will rebuild our world stronger, more magnificent than even the Ancestors once had established. We will reach beyond our stars, beyond our galaxy and through unimaginable ways and it will be you children who do this. I have no doubt of this, for although the Lanteans have had the good fortune to have never experienced the predation of the Wraith before they came to our galaxy, they lack the cunning, strength and endurance that every single Genii has had bred into their genes.

"There will be difficult times ahead for you, but I have no doubt that you will all persevere and endure, as the honor and strength of the Genii is to thrive in adversity. While you must unfortunately tolerate the presence of the abominations, creatures the Lanteans laughably call Wraithkin and claim as their own people, I know that you will not be corrupted by their deceptions and fall to becoming blind prey. There are also those known as Tok'ra that would seek to taint your honor by stealing control of your bodies and the knowledge from your minds through deception and lies. Never give them your trust and keep your distance from these horrors. The Lanteans and the rest are, while at times clever and potentially dangerous, are nothing compared to these other threats. Never trust a Wraith, never trust a Wraithkin, and never trust a Tok'ra, be wary of the Lanteans and their Jaffa and Nox.

"Your purpose in going to Atlantis is to survive, to learn, to grow in wisdom and strength, and to revive Genia and bring it to new heights. Do this, and the sacrifice that the rest of us have made, our deaths will not be in vain. Remember that before all else, you are Genii, and the elder of you children, ensure that the youngest do not falter on this path. If you manage this, we will not be lost at all, but rather reborn into a new age of brilliance and glory!" Ladon finished.

He felt almost smug as he gave appraising looks at the children. The youngest one still looked frightened and uncertain, but the older the child, the more determined, the surer they appeared. Oh, the Lanteans may welcome these children into their midst, but regardless of what the Lanteans thought, they would become more like the Genii rather than the Genii becoming more like them.

Ladon went through the gate with them and watched as the Nox men and women introduced themselves in an overly sympathetic and kind manner to the children. Oddly enough, Ladon noticed that the youngest grew less tense and frightened at the Nox caregivers spoke gently to them in soothing tones. Even the older ones weren't as unsettled now. He frowned at this but was distracted by Sheppard approaching him. Sheppard smirked and Ladon cringed, remembering that the man could likely read his mind.

"Not to worry, no one can hate the Nox. They are like the ultimate nice people. You'd have to be an absolute monster to resist their charms for long. They are also awesome about therapy and dealing with emotional trauma, so they'll be able to really help the kids accept the loss of their home and adjustments to living here. They're nice like that," Sheppard's smirk grew.

Ladon forced a fake smile that he knew wasn't fooling Ladon at all, "Right, well, we appreciate what you're doing for our people. Just remember that I don't have complete control over the people who are off our world and have been for some time. They might react poorly to our demise." Sheppard confirmed that he would, but Ladon knew that Sheppard was already aware of how little control he held now over the off-world sites." He did his best to keep his mind as blank as possible as they waited for the gate to be dialed and the event horizon to be stabilized.

Once they were through, he looked at his military commander, "How much time would it take to complete the process of fully distributing the bombs?"

"We have just started the process, so I suspect another two weeks, sir," The Commander admitted reluctantly.

"See if you can't speed the process up. I will oversee revamping the ZPM to our purpose. Our computer hard drives have already all been sealed in the depths of the securest bunkers. I don't want this plan to go off without a hitch or someone's death getting in the way. If anyone stands in your way, kill them. It's not like it matters anymore anyway," Ladon grumbled as they trudged back to their bunker.


	26. Chapter 26

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: If you can't figure out who this is about from the title, I am disappointed in you. Don't worry though, you will learn soon enough.**

**ANN: Sorry for the delay. Work and life are getting hectic. Bakers have to bake more in the fall and winter months, shocking I know. So, yeah, posting might be a little sporadic for a while. **

Chapter 26: The Prodigal Son of Atlantis

John was with Rikki, Julia, and Dave. They were practicing the songs they had volunteered to perform for the memorial service for Earth. It had been agreed to be finally had on the first anniversary of Earth's destruction. As they were only two weeks out from the memorial service, they were taking some of their free time to practice the songs they would perform. Teyla was also going to sing for the service, which would have everyone from Earth on Atlantis. While it was impossible to create a memorial that could completely cover every name of every person who had died. Instead, Rodney, Rikki, Sam, Jeanie, and Jackson had created an elaborate monument that John had no idea what it looked like since the five of them had refused to allow anyone see it. There had been votes for people from different continents about inscriptions for each one, but the results hadn't been released on the matter.

The group knew that there were others who would be also performing, but as it was his family who would be kicking the memorial service off with their songs. Rikki would be on her violin, Dave on the piano, Julia on the cello, both instruments that John had used the Asgard core to make for them not long after Earth's destruction, and John singing. Rikki was also providing an accompaniment for Teyla, which the two of them had crafted the song themselves. Teyla had enlisted Rikki early in the year for the purpose after Earth's destruction, when she had heard Rikki playing her violin.

John had removed his earpiece so that he didn't get distracted and his hearing wasn't obstructed by the device. This did mean that he had to turn on an old school radio so that he could be reached, but John hadn't actually anticipated that they would be interrupted. It was already late in the day and John was technically off duty. Todd was sitting off to the side with Fianna and generally enjoying the music while Todd fed her. Their baby was two months old at this point and Todd and John had taken to supplementing her meals with a carefully formulated baby formula, created by one of the scientists who had adopted a Wraithkin baby for Wraithkin babies. It was, in essence, a richer, higher calorie, more nutritious formula, that was more filling than standard formula or even the breast milk that Todd and John produced.

Just after they had finished a run through of one of the songs, John's radio crackled, "_Gen. O'Neill to Gen. Sheppard. John, I need you."_

John grabbed the radio and responded, "Yeah, I'm here, what's up?"

"_Well, it's technically not an emergency, but one of the scouts that we left on the dead worlds, you know, the ones keeping an eye out for messengers from the breeding colonies, well, they came back ahead of schedule and… well, just head down to medical isolation room three and you'll see," _Jack responded.

John frowned, "Alright, I'll be there shortly." He grabbed his earwig and gave the other's an apologetic look.

"Go ahead, you've got your part down, it's the rest of us who are paranoid about messing up our harmonizing," Dave waved him off.

John gave Todd a peck on the cheek, given that they were only in front of family, and Todd didn't appear interested in departing. It was probably the most amusing thing about Wraithkin that John had observed. The whole lot of them had gotten intensely fascinated with human music. It almost held a hypnotic quality to them, and it didn't matter if it was a preemie baby or even Bitterwind and Semper, they had developed a taste for listening to it whenever the opportunity had presented itself. So much so that Keller had had Rodney rig up a nice sound system in the Wraithkin NICU and played soothing, peaceful music. Thus, John knew that Todd wouldn't be moving while the option of live music was present, regardless of if John was there singing as well or not.

John smiled a little at the thought of all the little quirks he had learnt about both Todd and the Wraithkin. He shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. Iso Room One had been turned into the care unit for the Wraithkin carriers that had been rescued from the breeding colonies, though only the few youngest actually survived the transition and recovered from their torment. Iso Room Two was now the Wraithkin NICU where all the preemies that survived delivery were kept. Iso Room Three was where they typically kept the Wraith worshippers that were coming off of the enzyme. They had more survivors now that Keller had figured out that the drug that was based off the brain chemistry bonded Wraith and Wraithkin, which was now called the Regenerative Drug, was also capable of stabilizing those on the enzyme.

The thing was, though, was that they hadn't gotten any Wraith Worshippers off the last few Wraith hives they had interacted with. The primary guess was that when the Wraith had realized they couldn't get food, the Queens had fed on their worshippers to hold out longer. That did mean, however, that the room was currently unoccupied. Or at least it had been. Beckett was standing outside the room and made John pause, "Now, before I let you in there, you should know that I've already placed him in a medically induced coma. Even with the Regenerative Drug, it is going to be a rough ride for him. He's been on such a high dosage of the enzyme for such a long time that he will suffer less trauma from the withdrawal in a coma."

John didn't know who exactly Beckett was talking about, but he tilted his head and then walked into the room before immediately freezing. The almost haggard form had safety restraints around his wrists and ankles, an understandable precaution. John slowly approached and glance at Rodney and Teyla as they stood on either side of the bed. Teyla had already taken Ford's hand in hers, gently stroking it.

"I was so angry with him when he drugged us… why am I relieved that we finally found him?" Rodney looked a little lost as he muttered the words.

"Because he's our little brother. We… we failed him… we didn't find him for so long…" John paused and then turned to Beckett who had followed John into the room. "Will you be able to repair… I mean one of his eyes was black the last time we saw him… can it be fixed?"

"I've asked for a Nox healing group. As you know, they can't do much while the enzyme is still in the system, but once it's gone, they'll do their best to repair the damage and I suspect they'll be able to save his eye. I already did a scan and while there is substantial damage to the iris, it does look intact. I believe the discoloration is caused by the trauma sustained when he was first injected with the enzyme during the siege," Beckett was quick to reassure.

John nodded, "Not all the Wraith worshippers retained their memories from their time on the enzyme, do you think he'll…"

"Oh, I suspect it'll be a fifty-fifty shot. The therapists believe that it's a combination of the enzyme and the trauma they experienced at the hands of the Wraith that creates a mental block. They are strongly discouraged from attempting to remember their time as worshipper as, based on the evidence of physical trauma that they show, it's likely that remembering could be worse than not remembering for them. As for Lt. Ford, I honestly can't say. He is the only one who knows exactly how much trauma he suffered while under the enzyme's influence and honestly, do you really want him to remember all the things he did when he wasn't in his right mind?" Beckett looked at Ford with something akin to genuine sympathy.

John shook his head, "He'll need a lot of therapy if he did, plus one hell of a debriefing either way. Have you notified his grandmother and cousin yet? Ah… Lara… something was his cousin's name."

"Aye, that I have, Lara Ford and Gertrude Ford have been notified that we located Aiden, however, they've also been told that he isn't able to receive civilian visitors at present," Beckett responded. "They haven't been told why, though from what Ms. Ford said, she apparently had been informed when they first arrived of what happened to Lt. Ford."

"Right. Um… will you let us…" John was almost hesitant, uncertain how to phrase the question.

"I think it would be best to wait until he is over the worst before the three of you start maintaining a vigil over him. I'll let you know when we begin to bring him out of the medically induced coma," Beckett gave them pointed looks. "That said, you all can make short visits with him each day until that time arrives. I suspect it will be a week or so until we can wake him."

John nodded numbly, taking in the information. Teyla offered a weak smile, "I believe I should make Tava russar, Aiden rather enjoyed it, if I recall correctly, and it will match up nicely with some porcuboar stew and krissa wine."

John forced a weak smile of his own, "I'm sure Ford would love that." John was mostly talking about the Tava russar, a fermented dish made from tava beans and spices, that Ford had obsessed over during the first year whenever it was on the menu in the mess hall. The porcuboar stew and krissa wine were both relatively new to their diets. The wine was made from Lantean specific berries that the Athosians had only started using into their second year on Lantea and the porcuboar stew was even newer, since they had returned from the Milky Way as it had a mixture of Lantean and Earth ingredients and used Chu'lakian spices.

McKay left first, muttering about some potential problem in a power conduit that he needed to see to. Beckett gave John and Teyla knowing looks when they lingered before shooing them from the Iso Room.

Everything was dark, that was the first thought that popped into Aiden's head. The second was that everything hurt. His muscles ached and felt stupidly weak. He wondered if he had missed a dose or had run out of the enzyme, but that didn't make sense. The last thing Aiden remembered, he had a solid stash and was heading to a dead world he knew wasn't frequented by anyone. So, why did he hurt so much? The next thing to hit him was the realization that he heard someone talking to him, but he had to be hallucinating because it sounded like Teyla and that wasn't possible. Teyla wouldn't have anything to do with him. Not after he had drugged her, Rodney, and that other guy that Sheppard had had join his team to replace Ford… Dex. His name was Ronon Dex.

No, he had to have taken a little too much of the enzyme. It had occurred a few times, when he wanted to get a little extra strength to his punch. It was weird, now that he thought about it, that the enzyme was great for a power boost up to a point but then past that point it would knock you on your ass. Now that he was thinking about it, he also didn't make a lot of rational decisions while on the enzyme either. Like dosing Rodney, Teyla, and Dex, probably wasn't smart. They probably all hated him now. Dex and Teyla were likely capable of kicking his ass, even if they weren't on the enzyme and Rodney had proven that his resourcefulness knew no bounds, if what Ford had found was any indication of what Rodney did when scared. Also, his team… Jace, Kanayo, and the rest… well they weren't a great idea either… now that he thought about it. Sure, refining the enzyme had made things easier, but it also had made them more aggressive and reckless, and they weren't very sane to begin with. They also got really sick coming off the enzyme on that Hive. So had Ronon and Teyla, he had realized.

Maybe that was what Sheppard had always been worried about, why he said that Aiden wasn't thinking clearly. Well Aiden was thinking clearly now, and he was slammed with a wave of longing and wanting to just go home, like he had once claimed to Sheppard. He just wanted to see his grandparents, if they were still alive, and his cousin Lara. He wanted the security of knowing that someone had his back. He hadn't bother with trying to get another team together after what happened with the others.

It wasn't the same anyway. That was why he tried to get Sheppard to see the enzyme could help. So, he could go back to Atlantis and stay on the enzyme, because if felt like death to come off of it and they didn't want him to stay on it. Even as he thought this though, the voice that sounded like Teyla was getting louder, and it had that same soothing quality that Teyla's had. If it was Teyla though, did that mean that she didn't hate him. Aiden couldn't imagine Teyla and Rodney and Sheppard not hating him after all that he had done.

Maybe that meant none of what happened was real though. Aiden had heard of stories where someone was in a coma and they dreamt all these crazy things and woke up thinking it was real only to learn that none of it happened. Damn did Aiden really want none of the past four or maybe it was five years to have happened. He wanted to wake up to learn he had been in a coma for a week, and that everything was good between him and the others. This is what finally prompted Aiden to open his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that he had full use of both his eyes and felt a wave of relief to see Teyla there, pausing as she realized he was waking. Her smile almost like a benediction, "Well, look who's finally awake. I shall inform Carson that you are aware. You've been unconscious longer than we had anticipated."

Aiden revealed in the relief as Teyla gave him a gentle smile and then let go of his hand to leave the room. She came back a moment later with Dr. Beckett who gave him a bright smile, "Welcome back, Lt. Ford. I'll tell you lad, you were not in the best of shape when we found you. Not to worry though, we've patched you up nicely."

Aiden shifted to sit up, which prompted Beckett to adjust the bed so that Aiden was more upright, "What happened? I… I'm got to admit I'm kind of confused. The last thing I remember… well it can't be real because my left eye is just fine." The pair before him frowned a little.

Teyla's expression morphed into pity, "I'm afraid that it is likely that what you recall is probably real, Aiden. If what you recall is that five years ago you were injected with an enzyme and left us… that you have been on your own for the majority of that time, though we have encountered you a few times since then, then yes, that is accurate. Anything else, we can't really say of what happened to you… In truth… well we had hoped that you wouldn't recall it. We felt that it might be better if you hadn't, that you didn't remember all the bad things that undoubtedly happened to you… but it is no matter now. You are home, and safe, and free of the enzyme."

Aiden was hit with a wave of dread and then confusion, "But… if you take too much… it felt like I was dying if I didn't have the enzyme in my system, how? And how is my eye working if it was all real?"

"Oh, lad, I don't doubt it did, but we've had a lot of time to figure out ways to help people come off the enzyme safely. We had to place you in a medically induced coma and use a drug to stabilize you. Once you were clean of the enzyme, the Nox who are here now healed the damage that the extreme doses of enzyme had done to your body. I should go inform Gen. Sheppard and Gen. O'Neill you're awake," Beckett sounded sympathetic even as he checked Aiden's vitals and then left.

Aiden slumped down in the bed, misery washing over him. Teyla had always been the nicest of their team, but he suspected she was only there out of pity, not affection as she would have been before, "If it's real, then you all hate me. I really fucked up. It's okay, you don't have to stick around and be all nice enough though I'm sure you don't want to be anywhere near me." He felt the depression sinking in a little as he said it.

Teyla's expression flashed with anger, "Do you really believe that I would be here if I hated you? Really, Aiden, how could you think that? John and I have never given up hope of finding you. We knew that the enzyme was impacting how you were thinking and as you didn't take the first dose willingly, there was no way you would be able to behave rationally nor were you to be blamed. Yes, we were absolutely livid when you dosed us with the enzyme, but you seem to forget that I now know what it felt like to be influenced by it. You do not think things through with it in your system and the rush it gives you is exhilarating, yes, but coming off it is agony. It still impairs your ability to think things through regardless of how wonderful it feels being on it, to behave with control and rationality is impossible. We know this, Aiden. Your actions were not your own. It will take a great deal of time, and undoubtedly therapy, but you will come to understand in time. And… I hope that you can come to learn how to accept how other things have changed over the past five years."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Aiden just felt more confused by Teyla's words than anything. At least it was a distraction from the misery.

"She means a lot has changed in five years, Ford. For starters, Dr. Weir died three years ago, Atlantis, or rather the world of Lantea is a colony, and… about a year ago, Earth was destroyed. Your grandmother and cousin were on the evac list still, so they're alive, and in the city but… well we need every fighter we can get these days," Sheppard gave him a pointed look as Aiden startled at realizing Sheppard had appeared.

"So, I'm being forgiven because I'm capable of fighting? What happened, did the Wraith get to Earth?" Aiden focused on the important stuff, even if his body still felt weak and achy, no doubt because of the fact he was no longer on the enzyme. "I mean obviously the city's intact. How did they get to Earth?"

"Hey, hold up. Slow down, Ford. While yes, about a year and a half ago there was a hive that got ahold of the coordinates to Earth, we managed to get there in time and deal with them. That was the only hive, and they did minimal damage. No, they didn't destroy Earth… it was… they're called the Naari. They apparently like going around and wiping out civilized worlds with more advanced tech and enslaving worlds without it. Kind of a combo of the Wraith and Goa'uld in the worst way possible. Good news is that they don't know where Atlantis is so far, and we managed to save over fifty thousand people from Earth alone before it was destroyed. More from other worlds since then.

"Better news is that we've figured out a way to convince some of the Wraith to stop feeding on us and fight with us. We created a retrovirus that allows them to eat like we do without losing their strength or regenerative abilities. I'm letting you know about this now, so you don't freak out about my husband and the others in the city. They're on our side and I would appreciate you not attacking any of them. They don't have enzyme pouches, so there isn't any point. That said, what else is there that you need to know just now… Oh, right, so we have about thirty ships now in our fleet, but we're still struggling to man them all. The Jaffa and Tok'ra have joined us, the Nox are here for our protection from the Naari. We get healers and teachers in return, which is great because a lot of those we grabbed from Earth before it's destruction were kids.

"Add in the Wraithkin kids, the Athosians, the Genii kids that we just took in since the Genii adults are all dropping like rocks, and some other worlds that want to get a leg up in development and yeah, the Nox are definitely pulling their weight. The Wraithkin have been a real boon in terms of dealing with the Wraith who don't want the retrovirus. So, despite the worst of it, we're actually holding up pretty well," Sheppard looked at Aiden expectantly.

Aiden just felt numb though. Good Wraith? Okay, he could deal with that. He just had to think of them as like Teyla and the other Athosians… that were teal since he suspected they didn't change so much in their physical appearance. It was the other stuff, a new enemy while they were still coping with the Wraith. One so bad that the Jaffa and Tok'ra were seeking shelter with them. The worst shock was actually the Nox.

Aiden had heard a lot about the Nox, they were far more advanced the humans were, but they kept out of everyone else's business. The fact that _they _were involved, even going so far as to act as healers and teachers… that was really the straw that Aiden couldn't handle. He wasn't even going to touch on the Genii kids. He figured it was a numbers thing that led to them being on Atlantis. They had probably agreed to take them in to increase genetic biodiversity with the population being so small. Aiden needed time to take it all in. He had spent the past five years in a drug induced haze, he realized now, and now that he had come crashing down to Earth, it was all too much for him to handle.

"I'd like to see my family now, sir… if that's allowed," Aiden finally responded. He didn't think he could handle more information about how things had changed just yet.

Sheppard gave him the same pitying look that Beckett and Teyla had given him earlier, "Sure. They've been wanting to see you, but we wanted to wait until you were awake, and fully with us."

Aiden nodded, that was probably a good idea. He had no idea how he would have acted towards his family hopped up on enzyme. He was surprised though when just after Sheppard left the room with Teyla and Beckett, his grandmother and cousin entered. Aiden realized that they must have been waiting just outside the room. The two were quick to flank him and give hugs. He broke at this point, letting the tears that he hadn't realized were there overflow. Both women pulled back and took his hands, which Aiden realized now weren't restrained. They should be, but they weren't, even after everything he'd done.

The first words that tumbled out of his mouth were a sniffled apology, "I'm… I'm sorry, Grandma. I know… I know I always… Pro…promised to never be like… like th… them… I'm so sorry."

"Oh honey, no. You aren't like your parents, baby. You didn't make a choice to walk away from all the good in your life. What happened… it was… it was unfortunate, but you didn't choose to take that first dose and the doctors explained how very painful it is to let it leave your system once it's there. It is nothing like turning into an alcoholic or drug addict baby boy," His grandma ran her hand over his hair, which Aiden realized someone must have cut short for him.

"But I still made the choice to stay on the enzyme, even when they tried to find me, tried helping me. If… if whoever found me didn't take me by surprise, I would still be running around, doping up and thinking it was okay," Aiden argued, anger at himself causing his tears to stop. He didn't have a right to cry when he did this to himself.

"And are you going to run off and find more enzyme now that it's out of your system?" Lara asked suddenly, sharply.

Aiden shook his head, now that his head was clear, now that he was thinking straight, he realized how much it was taking from him. He didn't want to go near it, "No, never. I… it was just that it made me feel so strong, like I could protect everyone, like Major… I mean Gen. Sheppard does and it hurt not to have any of it in my system, like I was on fire, like I was burning up inside. I… I think it actually damaged my muscles or something because I feel so weak right now and it isn't just because there isn't any enzyme in me. I think I'm weaker now than I was before." Aiden had noticed Sheppard's change in rank, even if the man hadn't mentioned it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Lara responded sagely. "Dr. Beckett said the enzyme acted like a combination of meth, cocaine, and steroids. Those do a number on your body too, just on their own. It would be ten times worse combined. He also said it was obvious you had lost healthy muscle mass. The Nox healers said that the enzyme must have had a massive numbing effect on your pain receptors because your muscles had a bunch of tears in them and your bones were riddled with healed, healing, and new fractures. I suspect some of that weakness your feeling is your body readjusting to things being normal again."

Aiden took that information in and nodded. It made sense. The stunners had been less effective. He still couldn't help to feel like his family was making excuses for him though, "I still made the choice to do the wrong thing."

"And it's one you won't make again, honey. You know what you did. Yes, you might need to make amends, but I think that some of those who were closest to you have already forgiven you. The General and Ms. Emmagan seemed rather like they have. I can't say much about that Dr. McKay though. While he did stay with you, he seemed to be rather… well he's definitely one who fits the definition of a curmudgeon. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure if he was your friend or the other two were forcing him to participate in their vigil," Aiden's grandmother looked mildly concerned.

"Nah, that's just Rodney. He is grumpy like 99% of the time. He is also the best person you want on your side in a crisis though. He definitely saved my life a few times that first year we were here. He's good people, you just gotta get to know him, that's all. Of course, he… probably has a good reason to be pissed at me… I kind of dosed him with enzyme and then left him under guard while I dragged Sheppard and Teyla off on a… in hindsight… suicide mission. I really don't know why I thought it was a good idea to trying to take out a hive… while we were on it… with just a few chunks of C-4… yeah, the enzyme really impaired my judgement on that one. I'm a damned munitions expert and I thought I could take out a hive with a bit of C-4," Aiden shook his head in disbelief. Yeah, in hindsight, it had been a grade-A dumbass move.

Lara rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, we've established that. I've seen a few of those hives. You would have needed a lot more than a bit of C-4 to take one out."

"Wait… When have you seen a Wraith hive?" Aiden asked, concerned now. Had Atlantis been attacked since Earth's destruction.

"Well, not a Wraith hive, a Wraithkin hive, but they're pretty much the same in terms of dimensions according to Galahad. I have to admit, I'm still adjusting to the whole aliens are real thing, but the Wraithkin are a pretty decent lot for people who used to go around eating us. Though, to be fair, Galahad kind of hated the whole need to feed thing. He's got weekly therapy sessions with one of the Nox therapists to cope with the dissidence of not wanting to be a monster and his past," Lara admitted.

"Whose Galahad… isn't that someone from like mythology or something?" Aiden was now more confused than ever.

"Galahad Swordborne is a Wraithkin. Apparently, their Wraith names are a little awkward to translate because they are only telepathically shared. Galahad's is… I think I remember this correctly… One Who Fights with True Honor and Mercy. Anyway, Dr. Jackson tried to help the Wraithkin find names that fit in some way with their Wraith name, and Sir Galahad was the most honorable knight in King Arthur's court and what not. I think it's cute," Lara admitted with a soft smile.

"Right, okay. Well, I guess, I'll probably get to meet him at some point. Still kind of wrapping my head around the idea of good Wraith, but I mean there's good Goa'uld in the Tok'ra, so I can appreciate that. How did we manage to swing that, by the way? Gen. Sheppard didn't say," Aiden was more curious now that he had allowed himself be distracted by this. He knew he would have to come back to dealing with the whole enzyme thing later.

"Oh, that one is actually kind of priceless. Gen. Sheppard apparently met Todd, that's his husband's name by the way, when he was kidnapped by Commander Kolya, I think the official information release said it was in 2005… anyway, they were both being held prisoner, this Kolya guy was making Todd feed on Gen. Sheppard to get Dr. Weir to hand over the Genii leader, Ladon Radim. Well, in between feedings, apparently Gen. Sheppard talked Todd into hatching an escape plan, which ended up working, Todd fed on a bunch of the Genii in the bunker they were being held in and then returned everything he took from Gen. Sheppard before Gen. Sheppard's team found them.

"They parted ways but kept meeting up and according to the official release from Mr. Woolsey they gradually fell in love with each other. Todd, was presented the opportunity by Dr. Keller to take a retrovirus to remove his need to feed and he took it so that he could be with Gen. Sheppard and if that isn't the most romantic tale of star-crossed lovers I have ever heard, I don't know what is. Way better than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet because it has a happy ending and everything. They have since then managed to bring Todd's mother and sisters and their hives, along with a bunch of hives where Todd worked as second-in-command on over his several millennia over to our side. They actually have a baby girl now. Apparently, some Wraith and Wraithkin men can get pregnant and Todd's one of them. She is so darned cute too. Bright, violet hair, soft, pale teal skin, and these almost hypnotic looking hazel green eyes, though to be fair most of the Wraithkin babies are cute," Lara finished gushing over the idea.

"Right… Gen. Sheppard married a Wraith?" Aiden questioned and then realized that Sheppard had kind of implied it earlier, though Aiden hadn't picked up on it at the time.

"Wraithkin and be careful about that distinction. They can get super and understandably touchy about the difference. They aren't Wraith, even if they were once. They will never feed on another human and they have put a ton of effort into protecting us. They actually make up a huge percentage of the crew for our fleet of ships. To be fair though, a lot of them can be kind of cold and isolated and won't associate much with humans much outside of the Athosians, Gen. Sheppard's SpecOps unit, and some of the doctors. They do spend plenty of time with the Nox and Jaffa though. Galahad and a few others are much more open than the others are. Galahad said that he never wanted to feed or see us as food, so he wants to do what he can to ease tensions now that he doesn't need to, to survive anymore," Lara warned.

Aiden nodded, "Okay, why those people though? What makes them more appealing to spend time with compared to all the people?"

"Well, Galahad says that the Athosians, having a good chunk of them being Wraithkin too, are much more open to their presence, the SpecOps is mainly because a ton of them are a part of it, and because General Sheppard is their nominated leader, don't ask why, it's a little complex and not all of it has been explained to everyone, but I think it has to do with him being super strong mentally, the doctors are because they are overseeing their health after the transition, the Nox are pretty much friendly with everyone and wouldn't take no for an answer, and the Jaffa are because they can relate and both of them are pretty big on the whole warrior thing," Lara seemed to settle in a little in her explanation.

"Okay, cool. Well, if I haven't completely ruined my military career, how likely do you think that I could swing getting into the SpecOps under Gen. Sheppard, like is it super hard to get in?" Aiden asked, if he was staying military, he wanted to serve under Sheppard.

"Well, I know there are a bunch of requirements, but I haven't dug too deeply into them. I can get Galahad to go over them with you, though, if you want. He's SpecOps, so he should know," Lara offered.

Aiden nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess that works. Hey, do you know how long until I can get out of this bed? I gotta get back in shape the right way if I want to stand any sort of chance."

"I'll go get Dr. Beckett, honey. You just wait here a moment. I think I heard Ms. Emmagan saying something about making a feast for you to enjoy, she's a nice girl. It's a shame she's already married. Though, her husband is a very pleasant man too," His grandma said before getting up and heading out of the room.

"So… Galahad, huh? Am I missing the mark in thinking you're dating this guy?" Aiden couldn't help asking. Lara was always more of a sister to him than a cousin. The two of them had been raised by their grandparents, a product of his parents' drunk driving and killing everyone in the car, which had held Lara's parents as well.

"Yeah, we are, and before you say anything about him treating me well, he treats me like a literal fucking Queen, so I don't want you poking at him. Apparently, with the exception of Gen. Sheppard being the top dog, women definitely rule the roost with these guys. Galahad is all about being respectful and treating me like the ground I walk on is made of Naquadah, both valuable and explosive in the wrong situation," Lara smiled. "It's actually kind of sweet. We've been dating three months and he has let me set the pace on everything. I knew him for four months before that. He was in… like… I think the third group of defectors when the plan to give the Wraith the convert or die ultimatum was put into effect. That was before the Wraith really got the message that our ships could destroy them with ease, so Galahad definitely falls under the 'wanted out' category and not the 'just didn't want to die' category."

Aiden nodded at that, "As long as he's good to you, I don't think I'll have any issues with him. I just gotta make sure, you know? But if you say he's good, I trust you."

"Good, because he's pretty much ruined me for anyone else. I don't think I can go back to dating potential pricks when the option of dating a combination of sex on a stick, Jason Borne in a fight, and Sir Galahad in how I get treated on the daily is an option," Lara smirked.

"Okay, too much information, did not need to know you find him hot," Aiden admitted. Honestly, he thought Wraith were kind of ugly, but maybe that was just his being a straight guy.

Lara shrugged, "You asked."

"Not for that much information," Aiden mock whined as Beckett came in before he and Lara burst into childish laughter.

"Good to see your spirits have lifted a little, Lt. Ford. Your lovely grandmother asked to know when you'll be up and about, so let's see how you are with the standing. If you can manage it on your own, I don't see why we can't discharge you. We've found that once those coming off the enzyme find their legs they tend to recover faster in privacy."

Aiden nodded and when Beckett lowered one of the bars on the side of the bed, he pulled the blanket away and shifted off to the side of the bed. He eased onto the ground and while a little unsteady at first, due to mild dizziness, once it passed, he was able to let go and walk with reasonable stability. He smiled at that. Aiden was still feeling a little weak and sore but he could handle it if he could get into some clean clothing and get a decent shower.

"Very good, alright, I want you to come to the infirmary every morning for the next week to check how you're doing. Do not skip any visits or I will hunt you down myself. Now, I believe Teyla's been working on making you some Tava russar to go with some rather tasty porcuboar stew and I suspect she will be put out if you miss dinner, so you best get cleaned up. Oh, and this clothing was left for you by Dr. Sheppard. She was kind enough to make you something to wear," Beckett set the bundle in his hands on the bed.

Aiden wondered who Dr. Sheppard was but then shrugged. It was probably the general's sister or something. He hadn't talked a lot about his family, so Aiden didn't know for certain.

Teyla sent John to hunt down Aiden once she was close enough to finishing the massive feast, with Kannan's help, for celebrating Aiden's return and recovery. He left good naturedly even as Teyla had to stop Torren from attempting to shove something he had managed to find on the floor into his mouth, "No. This is not food. I know you are hungry, but dinner will be soon. Serwen, Orrilin, go wash your hands and I swear to the Ancestors that if you do not stop messing your hair up, Orrilin, I will chop it off, like I did to Serwen, do not tempt me." She scolded.

She coaxed her boys into the bathroom to wash their hands and to re-braid the two braids she had divided Orrilin's hair into. He had been reluctant to have it cut, so Teyla had indulged him, but the hair would become a tangled mess if not braided. Kannan set the large table in their living area where they had taken to hosting regular dinners for everyone in their 'family' group. Teyla hustled them out of the bathroom and went to get the door when it chimed.

Rodney looked a bit put out as Jennifer coaxed him in with their son William. Jennifer also handed over a plate of brownies as she had taken to calling them. They were made from a bean they had found on an unoccupied world that was extremely similar to coco beans, so much so that they had just started calling them that. Some of the plants had immediately been transplanted to the mainland farms so that they could have a facsimile of chocolate once more, though it had only been found a month ago, so it was still a rare commodity.

Teyla smiled appreciatively, knowing that Jennifer must have dug into some of her rationed coco powder that had been shared out after the discovery. Teyla had hoarded her own share and was using it to slowly make chocolate whenever she truly craved it. Jennifer smirked, knowing this, "It smells fantastic in here. I'm so glad you guys actually know how to cook and split the dinners with Sheppard because I can't stand eating in the mess every meal. They don't have much originality."

Todd came next with Fianna and Rikki's crowd in tow, followed closely by Ronon with Liam and Corrina. Fianna's bassinet was placed on a chair and she was sleeping peacefully within, "I just fed her, so she should be fine for a few hours."

Teyla gave Todd a smile in understanding as he moved to help her set the food out on the table. The table had a customized sliding track for all the dishes, so that food could be rotated along the length of the table with minimal effort. Once all the food was on the table, everyone milled around a bit, waiting for John to return with Aiden and his family. Rikki and Rodney began discussing modifying some sort of power source for something with Rikki's friends putting in their opinions from time to time. Todd and Jennifer spoke of the nanite trials for restoring the Jaffa immune system. Kannan and Ronon were entertaining the younger children, though Teyla couldn't help but frown at her oldest as she was reminded by Serwen and Cooria engaging in a whispered conversation of the fight they had had the week before with a group of Genii children. Granted, it had not been just those two, William and Liam had been the instigators and they were just as intent in their gossip while their parents were preoccupied with the younger children and each other.

Teyla turned towards the door as it opened revealing John with an anxious looking Aiden and his cousin and grandmother. The room fell quiet as they entered and John immediately took advantage, "Right, well let's start with introductions. Everyone, this is Lt. Aiden Ford, which I'm sure you've all heard me, Rodney, and Teyla talk of from time to time. This is his grandmother, Gertrude Ford, and his cousin, Lara Ford. Kids, you are to politely refer to Mrs. Ford as Mrs. Ford unless she says otherwise. Now for introducing Ford to everyone else. The tall, blue haired man is my husband, Todd. In the bassinet, with the purple hair, is our daughter, Fianna. Over by Rodney, the young lady who looks like a miniature, female version of me is my eldest, Rebecca, though everyone just calls her Rikki.

"With her and Rodney, you have Tom as our other resident giant, Sebastian, Jeff, and Amelia. Jeff is the blond. Then over with Todd, you have Rodney's significant other, and way too good for him lady, Dr. Jennifer Keller. The older pair of kids off in the corner are William and Liam, William is the one with white hair and he is Rodney and Jennifer's. Liam is Ronon's kid. The second pair is Corrina and Serwen. Corrina is the slightly taller one, as he's six to Serwen's five. Corrina is Ronon's other kid and Serwen's Teyla's eldest.

"Next, on the floor with the little ones, you have Ronon, of course, and the other fine gentleman down there is Teyla's man, Kannan. He does most of our babysitting, since he's great with kids. Then the biggest in that group of kids with them is… really Ronon, but of the real kids it's Teyla's second oldest Orrilin. And the little toddler with them is Teyla's youngest, Torren, or TJ as I call him because Teyla gave him my name as a middle name," John finished to chuckles from Aiden, because of his elaborate descriptions.

Teyla rolled her eyes, "Orrilin's middle name is Aiden and Serwen's is Rodney. Do not grow too inflated an ego there, John."

Aiden froze at the information though and Teyla looked at him with concern. He stared at the boy Teyla had mentioned before looking back at her, "You gave one of your kids my name? After everything I did?" He looked a little lost and broken.

Teyla immediately understood why he was confused and immediately went over to give him a hug. It was Rodney who answered his question, "Of course, she did. You're as much Teyla's brother as John, Ronon, and I are. You made mistakes, yes, but you weren't exactly right in the head at the time. Hell, if we held you to all the mistakes you made, then they would have to hold me to all my mistakes while I was perfectly clean of any drugs besides caffeine and I really don't want them to because I've blown up 4/5ths of a solar system since you last saw me."

Aiden's pulled away from Teyla at that point to turn to Rodney in full and ask what had to be a burning question, "How?!"

John snorted, "Arrogance and the belief that he was smarter than the Ancients, which in that case, was a solid no. That whole thing was a disaster. If it hadn't been for Caldwell wisely bringing the Dedalus to catch us quick and get us out of the range of that weapon, Rodney and I would be dead."

"Okay, gonna need more details on that later, but is that russar? If that's russar, I'm going to make a lot of embarrassing noises eating it because it's like the one thing I have missed more than you guys while I was being stupid," Aiden pointed at the dish holding the Tava russar.

"It is. I am well aware of how fond of it you were. I thought it would be an excellent part of your welcome home," Teyla gave him a happy smile. "We also have plenty of other healthy and calorie filled foods to help you regain all the weight you lost. You are far too thin, Aiden."

Aiden accepted the gentle scold as Teyla guided him over to a seat and then took the one next to him, her children politely settling themselves on her other side. John took the seat opposite of him, flanked by Todd and Rikki. Rodney looked put out that Aiden's cousin and grandmother had claimed the seats on Aiden's other side but accepted his defeat and went to the one on Todd's other side to be close enough to talk with Aiden.

Aiden was a bit startled by the moving dishes but adjusted quickly once he was reassured. He didn't seem to hesitate to eat plenty, to Teyla's relief. After a stilted start, the conversation started flowing when Aiden asked to be filled in on why John had never told them about Rikki before. That story transitioning to others while people ate. Aiden seemed to draw out of his shell a little more as he realized that he was truly welcome.

Things were going well right up until Rodney claimed that his son was perfectly well behaved. Teyla sighed while Ronon countered, "Really? That's why both our kids got reprimanded last week, along with Teyla's oldest because they got into a fight with some of the Genii kids?"

"Hey, those little brats started it!" Rodney countered.

Liam chimed in immediately, "Yeah! They called Will and Corrina and our cousins Abominations! There was no way we could let that stand!" His full eight-year-old outrage was, in Teyla's opinion, justified, even though she wished the children hadn't gotten into a physical altercation.

John, who was the one who didn't have a child involved in the fight was covering his mouth and suppressing laughter. Aiden looked confused, "Why are there Genii kids on Atlantis? I know you mentioned it, but you didn't really explain."

Everyone froze. John finally answered the question, "We managed to make a sort of truce with the Genii in year two. Then, a month ago, after we finally managed to get a lot of stuff sorted out here on Lantea, which took most of the year, given that we had to get our footing after losing Earth, we had the first official summit of the Interplanetary Coalition of Pegasus. To help smooth things over between the Wraithkin and the other worlds, we offered to provide educations to the kids of other worlds. Well, a few weeks ago, their leader, Ladon Radim, came and informed us that all the adults and most of their kids were dying from a toxin caused by their weapons experiments. They sent the ones healthy enough to survive, if they received treatment here, to be cared for, educated, and raised."

Aiden was clearly surprised by this before shaking his head, "Damn, guess they really should have listened to McKay when he warned them when we first met them. Maybe they could have prevented all that if they had just listened."

"Yeah, well, as it turns out, it might have been too late, even then. The truce we brokered with them included us curing a lot of their people with cancer," John shook his head. "So, now we have like 86 Genii kids on Atlantis and the younger ones are fine for the most part, they're all clinging to the Nox and learning what affection means. It's the older kids that are causing problems, starting fights with Wraithkin children mostly. The Nox are trying to help them adjust, but it's been pretty rough on them. It wasn't too different than the kids from Earth just after Earth was destroyed. Right up until the Nox arrived to help out, the therapists were all buried under work helping the kids cope with losing their families, homes, and entire planet."

Aiden was somber at this information, "How long ago was it destroyed?"

"In three days, it will be a year. We have a massive memorial service planned," Rodney answered this time.

Teyla patted Aiden's hand, "I am glad you will be here for it. It will… allow you the opportunity to mourn with everyone else. If we had found you later, it is possible that you would not have the support with it, the mutual understanding you will have in it now."

Aiden nodded slowly. Teyla realized that he was still processing the loss of Earth. Finally, he spoke to a quiet table, "Guess I'm lucky that the only people, besides grandpa that is, that I really care about got safely evacuated."

"If your grandpa had been alive at that time, he would have been like kid in a candy store once the shock of losing Earth had faded. Your grandpa was a big fan of all this scifi stuff. Believed in Roswell and everything," Mrs. Ford chuckled.

Teyla realized that John had seen the opportunity to lighten the mood a bit with that one, "Well, he would have been right. Turns out, that really _was _a ship of Asgard, I looked into that once I joined the Program. Anyway, the SGC got complete control over the information as part of Project Blue Book. The photos of the dead aliens match up with the physical appearances of the Asgard and what was left of the craft was actually confirmed by Thor as Asgard tech. Turns out there was a rouge group of Asgard experimenting on humans from all sorts of planets, trying to correct their a lot of their problems with cloning, since they were slowly dying due to the whole thing. We even had a group of them here in Pegasus, they've been around since before the Ancients left and they have been kicking around, still. Kidnapped Rodney and Jackson a few years ago."

"An experience I would like very much to forget, thank you," Rodney grumbled. "They made us turn on the Attero device, which got a lot of people hurt!"

"And cost me three of my cruisers and a setback in our relationship," Todd added, looking disgruntled.

"Nobody made you steal the Daedalus, Todd. We were working on fixing it. Rodney even figured out how to shut down the thing permanently," John didn't look put out and Teyla realized they must have already had this conversation at some point.

"Wait, as that the time that Todd was supposed to take the retrovirus for the first time? I haven't managed to read through all your mission reports yet, with how busy everything has been this past year," Rikki looked excited and slightly nosy.

John rolled his eyes, "Yes, and while Todd and I agreed that that we had no way of knowing that the Attero device would come into play, had Teyla or myself been on the Daedalus, he would have been more inclined to listen since we were literally the only two people he trusted to any extent at the time."

Teyla gave Todd a smile, "I am glad to hear that. After all the effort I took to help you gain control over your alliance, I would have hoped that would be worth something." She gave him a pointed look.

"That is the primary reason that I knew that I could trust you to any extent. I had, at the time, felt the exclusion of John's and your presence was deliberate on Mr. Woolsey's part and that it was clear that neither of you were in the loop on his devious plan. Obviously, I was mistaken, however, at the time, I had little reason to consider Mr. Woolsey trustworthy and to all appearances, even John didn't fully trust him," Todd defended.

Ford raised an eyebrow, "That pencil pusher from the IOA? Why would he have been involved?"

"Oh, that's right, uh, until he took his position at the head of operations, he wasn't exactly the friendliest guy. Woolsey took over after Col. Carter was pulled after her year in charge. Carter took over when Elizabeth died… kind of… she was turned into a replicator due to some really funky circumstances… technically speaking, there is a replicator version of her hanging out by a space gate… last we checked anyway… but that's a whole other story. Anyway, she was taken by the Pegasus Replicators, presumed dead, after we went to steal a ZPM from them, after they attacked Atlantis, after… know what, I'll just forward those mission reports and you can read them for yourself and then ask questions. It's all pretty complicated," John looked uncomfortable again.

Teyla decided since everyone's plates looked clear, it was time for dessert if only to distract from the negative track of the conversation, "Well, on that note, Jennifer kindly made us some brownies, which I am anticipating trying and I have some ice cream that I made, if everyone is ready for dessert."

That was received with a chorus of welcome and so Teyla retrieve the brownies, along with a few tubs of the apple caramel ice cream that she had made during the week. It was using her portion of the apples that had been distributed after the first meager harvest of their orchards. The seeds had been turned over to the botany department once she had cored the apples for the dish. Aiden's eyes lit up when the bowl of ice cream, along with the caramel topping, made in a different manner than it was on Earth, due to the difference in ingredients, and the moderately sized brownie was placed in front of him. Kannan and Ronon assisted Teyla in distributing the dishes.

"This looks amazing," John observed. "Bonus is that apparently the beans they are using as a vanilla replacement, though they're just calling it vanilla, now has a little extra punch to it for those of us with the ATA gene. If we have a lot, like in strongly vanilla flavored stuff, it gives us a bit of a buzz. The stronger your gene is, the better the buzz, Rikki, who's nearly full Alteran gets slightly tipsy, it's hilarious."

Ford perked up further at that, "Wait does it work for those who have the artificial gene or just natural? And if it gets you high, or drunk, or whatever, isn't that a concern?"

"Just natural," Rikki responded, crumbling her brownie on top of the ice cream. "The doctors are theorizing that it's something in the Alteran genome that has a specific impact, not the gene itself. That only indicates the probability of its impact on our cognitive function short term. There isn't any mental or neurological damage, like alcohol produces with prolonged use, so it's perfectly safe, it just means I can get drunk without my dad getting grumpy about it. There isn't even the risk of toxic levels being reached for us. Even I'd have to eat like nothing but those beans non-stop for the entire day to be at risk of getting sick from it and by that point, I would be more likely be sick from eating all day, rather than the chemical interaction."

Ford nodded slowly, "Well, I guess you get to get drunk the safe way then. That's cool."

"Yeah, to be honest, Rikki's the only one who could probably actually get drunk-drunk off the vanilla and she'd _really _have to be trying to manage it," John countered. "Though, I'm sure there will eventually be specialty alcohols made specifically to give the ATA positive an extra punch to the drink."

"I give it a few years. Right now, we are still working on turning Zelenka's hooch into something smoother than paint stripper," Rodney commented, bringing out an outright laugh from Aiden.

"Man am I glad to be home. Also, glad to know Zelenka's hooch is still around. I get the feeling that I'm gonna want to be drunk for reading through some of those mission reports," Aiden admitted, sobering up a bit.

Teyla smiled softly, "We will be with you for that, Aiden. There aren't too many that are seriously depressing, however there are parts where I specifically want to be with you when you read through them, to help clarify. My pregnancy with Torren… was a difficult time for myself and my people as well as those of Atlantis."

Ford nodded slowly, sober again, "Right, well, I suspect that a lot of it is stuff that I wouldn't want to read alone, anyway."

Teyla tried considering how to lighten the mood once more only to have Sebastian do it for her, "So… Lt. Ford, you straight or gay?"

Ford sputtered, "What the hell? Straight. Definitely straight!"

Amelia smirked, "Really? Fantastic." She gave him an appraising look while Sebastian sighed in disappointment. Teyla noted that Aiden flushed a little at the appraisal.

Tom rolled his eyes and explained, "Sorry about these two, they have the exact same type of guy. You happen to fit into that type, so naturally, they needed to determine whose territory you fall under. Amelia is straight, Sebastian is gay." He shrugged.

Rikki was leaning into Tom's side laughing hysterically at this, Aiden had a deer in headlights look, and John took pity on him, "On that note, I'm going to say we should let Ford escape before Amelia becomes too forward. Ford, report to my office, same place as before, in the morning and we'll work out a plan to for getting you back into shape and start in on completing your training for SpecOps, that is if you want to…"

"I want to, sir. Absolutely. I don't know what else I would do if not that," Aiden cut him off before he could finish.

"Well, Gen. O'Neill is heading up the more general military and I know that he would happily to have you, since you do have plenty of experience in ground combat, but I think the rest of us prefer if you joined SpecOps," John admitted.

"You'd be wasted just talking to people on the ground or exploring ruins and that's what the military is mostly doing these days," Ronon added. "Those shields over occupied cities keep the Wraith from being able to cull now."

"Yeah, I'm going with you guys, even if it does require more training. I think I might be more comfortable with that," Aiden was quick to respond.

"Just remember that there are a good number of Wraithkin among out numbers in SpecOps. They prefer that or serving on the ships that we have," Teyla was quick to warn. She didn't want any unnecessary fights to occur.

"Nah, that's cool. I just have to think of them like Teal'c or the Tok'ra. Nobody is born evil. They make a choice. Sure, in the more corrupt species that choice can be bad, especially if they don't know better, but if you look at Todd, it's clear that they can make good ones if the opportunity arises," Aiden shrugged, looking uncomfortable again. "Honestly, though, I'm kinda feeling tired and I should probably get some sleep. Thanks for inviting my family to dinner though. It was great. The ice cream and brownies are amazing, and I haven't eaten this well in years."

"Right, well get some rest and we'll see you in the morning, Ford. We'll deal with the paperwork and getting you caught up over the next few days. We are keeping operations to a minimum leading up to the memorial service, and your physical training won't be until after Beckett clears you physically," John informed him. "We will make sure you get all the gear you need though."

"I appreciate that, sir," Aiden looked a little down cast as he and his family got up and departed.

Once they were gone, it was Rodney, of all people to comment, "He's probably just going through a lot. It's probably super overwhelming for him. After all, he hasn't really been processing anything for five years and what he remembers can't be pleasant."

"Yeah, he'll have to go through therapy, but I doubt there's anyone on Lantea who hasn't required some of that over the past year, if not more," John shrugged. "Still good to finally have him back."

Just then Fianna woke up and let out a wail that meant John and Todd immediately had to shift focus to their daughter. It wasn't long before the group was breaking up to head back to their own sets of rooms. Teyla and Kannan had a little help from Ronon and his boys who stayed for the cleanup before leaving as well. Once they were gone, Teyla and Kannan shared a look before setting up their meditation mats for them, Orrilin, and Serwen to work on the boys meditation and inner peace. She personally meditated on the relief that it was to finally have her family whole once more.


	27. Chapter 27

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: There will be several songs mentioned in this chapter. Most will be mentioned by name only and should be generally recognized by everyone since they are very well known and are much older songs (Pre-2009 to maintain timeline), if you don't know them, you can easily look them up. The one song that isn't is going to be the one sung by Teyla, which will be a much more recent song that is slightly modified, but if you don't recognize it, it's title will be at the end of the chapter.**

Chapter 27: The Memorial

John spent the two days before the memorial service getting Ford oriented with SpecOps in general and life on Atlantis in particular. He was slightly worried that Ford seemed to fluctuate from his first-year eagerness for new and exciting things to deflating into uncertainty and disappointment over how much things had changed and how few people he knew. The uniforms fell under the latter category, but he accepted the change with grace, once he learned that they were bullet-proof and feeding resistant. This was something that he really approved of in the uniform, along with its durability.

The lightsabers had him bouncing like a little kid at Christmas, but then that was pretty standard behavior for virtually every human in the military. Even the Wraithkin got excited over them. Lightsabers were cool. He expressed a desire to learn the sword style, not certain that he could manage the Bantos style. John assured him that Ronon and John would teach Ford how to handle the sword style in different fighting forms. They spent a few hours with Woolsey 'undoing' his death paperwork which had Ford forlorn throughout the process. Ford also wasn't thrilled about the orders from both John and O'Neill for therapy with the Nox but understood the necessity of it.

He had pouted a bit about not being able to go to Heightmeyer before learning that she was among those had died even before Earth's destruction. That, along with physical therapy which was also with a Nox healer and Ford had already muttered in annoyance about being coddled. John had shut that down immediately and reminded Ford that he was recovering from prolonged exposure to a chemical that while capable of temporarily reinforcing one's strength, had long-term detrimental effects. He even bluntly told Ford that Teyla, Ronon, and Rodney had required two weeks of physical therapy from the short period that Ford had had them the enzyme. Ford was also informed that the wraith worshippers that they had rescued from the earliest hives, the ones who had been on the enzyme for over a decade and had, by some miracle had survived coming off the enzyme, were still recovering physically. Those that hadn't killed themselves after refusing time with the Nox therapists at least.

That had been enough to silence any further complaints from Ford about coddling. It didn't, unfortunately, halt the despondent, haunted expression he seemed to wear when he didn't think anyone was looking. It was, John suspected, in part the presence of so many Wraithkin in the city that Ford was struggling with. He hadn't been anything but polite to them, but John had caught Ford looking broken more than a few times when he saw the expressions of happy Wraithkin children or the strong determination of the adults in SpecOps had to complete their training and get out there and defeat the Wraith hives that still resisted or the colonies that that had to be dealt with. John had deliberately withheld the information of what they saw on those colonies, but he was sure that Ford would be learning about the conditions that the carriers faced sooner than not.

All told, those two days were rough on both John and Ford. John could literally sense Ford's turmoil, as Ford hadn't learnt how to block his thoughts or even just avoid projecting his thoughts about things. The majority of the Wraithkin, due to their telepathy, had kept they distance from Ford, barring, Todd, Cooria, and Teyla's family. That said, Todd had pointedly informed John that while he understood Ford's distress and could even empathize with it, as well as understand the importance of John's friendship with Ford, he would, for the time being prefer that Fianna not be in Ford's presence for long periods of time. This wasn't because Todd believe Ford would intentionally harm her, but rather that Fianna was still developing her telepathic abilities and had no mental defenses against what was essentially an emotional onslaught in Ford's proximity. This, he feared would impair Fianna's telepathic development. John couldn't argue with the reasoning, even if he wasn't happy about the necessity for the foreseeable future. To top it all off, those two days were also filled with miserable, cold, downpours of rain. They were predicting that it would clear up, but there wasn't a guarantee.

The morning of the memorial, however, John noted that it, in fact, had stopped raining, though the clouds were still low hanging and foreboding in appearance as John dressed in his uniform and ensured that his rank insignias were on straight as well as the patch for the SpecOps. He glanced at Todd who, John had to admit, looks hot as hell in uniform, as he adjusted his patches as well. One for SpecOps and the new insignias that he shared with Ronon and Teyla, a dragon, marking their ranks as Master Specialists for SpecOps. It was an equivalent rank to a Colonel. There were also the three other ranks of Advanced Specialist, the equivalent of a Major, indicated by a griffin insignia, Specialist, indicated by a serpent shaped into an S, which was the equivalent of a Captain, and finally the insignia for a Novice Specialist was a circle.

John's own stars seemed a little tame as General Specialist, but he had worked too hard to for the rank of General and the only suggestions for a new insignia for him were a phoenix and while he was still debating it, he wasn't exactly sold on the idea. It edged too close to implying that John was immortal and god-like with the connections to the Egyptian Phoenix and John already had issues with a cult that they were _still _attempting to find even a fraction of the members of those who seemed to think him some god. He didn't need to start adding symbolism to that mix. The whole lot of them would likely cheer in their little cult headquarters, which no one seemed to be able to locate. Part of the problem was that before everything happened, Atlantis had only had a few hundred people on a massive city, of which only a tiny fraction was populated. Now, Atlantis was nearly full, with plenty of people spreading out onto the mainland and hopping over to various Nox city-ships on a regular basis too. It was nigh on impossible to narrow people down to the cult members based on who they interacted with.

The only consolation in all this was that while the ones that had hared off to kill Cole's group, and John wasn't entirely sure his sympathizers were gone either, had proven capable of murder, they didn't seem inclined to kill anyone who didn't pose an imminent threat to John or those near him. This fortunately meant that the murder rate of the city was damned near zero. John would have continued to allow his thoughts to wander further afield, but Todd's hand on his shoulder cut him off.

"For now, we must choose our battles. This cult poses little threat to us at present, and so far, they have only aided us. We have far greater concerns and today in particular you need focus on the present. You and the council will be the focal points of this memorial service. The people of Lantea will take strength from seeing yours. Your distraction will only worry them," Todd was firm with his words, but it helped center John.

"Right, sorry. My mind bounces from place to place sometimes," John offered a weak smile.

Todd snorted, "This is something I am well aware of. We have shared our thoughts for nearly a year now. I have mostly learnt to ignore your mental wanderings when they weren't distracting you for important matters."

"Right. Well, we'd best get a move on," John commented before he turned to collect Fianna from her blanket on the floor. "You sure it's best to leave her with Bitterwind? I mean, Earth could have been her home too…"

"The emotional turmoil that this event will stir would be severely damaging to her developing telepathy. She would possibly attempt to repress it altogether for the overwhelming nature of the grief that is expected to be present in everyone's minds. The Nox will be supervising all the Wraithkin under the age of two for this very reason. Would you have Fianna struggle to develop her full range of telepathy as Teyla and the others have when she is older? If it is repressed, it can be very difficult to stimulate and nurture later, as she grows," Todd gave John a pointed look.

"Right, of course. I'm thinking crazy thoughts. Yep, that I am, little lady. Well, that means it to grandmother's house we go," John commented settling his daughter into her bassinet and watched Todd shoulder her baby bad. John almost half expected Todd to point out that Bitterwind didn't have a house, she had a hive and personal quarters on Atlantis. But then, John had seen Todd reading some of the children's tales that were in the Brother's Grimm Fairytales, so he figured his little red riding hood reference was picked up on.

Fianna had, over the past few months proven that Wraithkin babies developed in mostly similar ways to human babies, excepting maybe being a bottomless pit for food and the telepathy thing. Still, at a little over two months old, she was alert enough to somewhat realize they were going somewhere and to recognize frequently seen faces to unfamiliar, which is what John picked up as they settled her with Bitterwind. Bitterwind had made a point of being around enough that her face, and mind, were familiar to Fianna. She wasn't the most familiar person, but there wasn't any fuss as Bitterwind removed her from the bassinet and started to talk to Fianna.

It was apparently common practice for Wraith, and by extension Wraithkin, parents and grandparents to encourage early neural development by verbally and mentally communicating with the baby from birth. John had gone with it because, in all honesty, while the telepathy part wasn't fully researched, he had done something similar with Rikki and it hadn't hurt her brain at all. John figured that the Wraithkin had had a few millennia to work on that theory and study the impacts of the neural development of their babies. In fact, John had noticed that the older kids rescued from the colonies had had a distinctly more difficult time with learning and adjusting to changes in their environment than the kids that had been born on the hives. It was likely why Bitterwind had found those kids 'inferior' and why they were less likely to survive the transition from food to feeding on humans.

Todd gave John a mental nudge to pay attention as they reached the Northern pier, where the ceremony was officially being held. It was, of course, impossible for over 50 thousand humans, as well as the additional Nox, Jaffa, and Wraithkin who wished to attend the service to all fit on the Northern pier. Thus, the podium, with its chairs, instruments all set up, and the concealed memorial had cameras and mics focused on them. These would be projected onto each pier along the side of base of the control tower on screens, with speaker systems temporarily placed along the length of the piers. In addition to this, all the communal areas also had screens and speakers. Overall, they suspected that they would have ample room for everyone to observe.

As for those who would be on the Northern Pier, those to the front were in reserved seating for the original Expedition members and their families. Behind them, there was space for those who would provide music for the service and the representatives of various worlds in attendance as support for their allies. There was seating on the podium for the council members and John was grateful that while he would be in the front and required to speak, he wasn't going to be constantly in sight if the cameras. As they headed for the end of the pier where the podium sat, John noted that there was a large number of Wraithkin present. A few were mixed into the crowds that were already present, most likely because they were the more outgoing and mostly interested in forming romantic relationships with humans in the hopes of genetically stronger children.

The rest of the Wraithkin were in larger groups, older adults encircling children and teenagers that John suspected had insisted on attending. John figured that they planned on creating a mental barrier of sorts around the youths to prevent undue emotional trauma on them. John could feel the waves of sorrow coming off his fellow humans as he made his way to the front. They hadn't truly had the time to really mourn over the past year, so the pain felt almost raw and fresh from many present, for others it was more harsh, almost bitter and John knew that those were the ones who bore a bitter hatred for the Naari. As there wasn't really a possibility of having enough seating for everyone, John noted that many of them were situated on blankets and pillows.

The blankets laid down were a variety of styles, from the generic ones provided by the immediate supplying just after the evacuation right through to those of Athosian or other worlds make. These, John knew, were purchased by using the basic pay everyone got for their contribution to the city, or higher pay given for more specialized work. The pay was in the form of digital credits that could be used to purchase things that could be used for trading on other worlds, or for special food items that didn't come out of the basic food supply, like the coco powder that Keller had used to make the brownies for the dinner, or specifically designed clothing that wasn't the standard provided. In this way, they allowed people more individuality and to have their own preferred comforts while also making sure that everyone had the basics to survive.

When John and Todd finally got close to the podium, he noticed that Ford and his family were just behind John's family, which took up a chunk of the front row. McKay and his kid and his sister's family were the remainder of the row. Ford's family, Bate's family, and Zelenka's family took up the second row. Beckett's family occupied the third row along with Dr. Weir's mother and Dr. Heightmeyer's sister and her family. They had all provided with low seats, enough to keep them off the ground and a little more comfortable, but not enough to block the view of the podium for the crowds behind them. Especially with a slightly raised platform had been set up along the length of this pier to elevate everyone a bit more towards the back.

John settled in on one side of Rikki, her friends he suspected were in the crowd just behind the reserved seating. Dave had Rikki's other side along with his family. Nancy was at the end of the row, though John suspected that was more along the lines of for O'Neill rather than as a part of John's group. Rodney was on the other side of Todd with William between him and Jeanie. There was a round of nods, but they were otherwise silent. John glanced at his watch to check the time and then glanced back to see the last of the original Expedition Members take their seats.

They waited another five minutes and then quiet fell as Dr. Jackson stood and walked to the podium. His expression was somber, and John could tell he felt the weight of having to open the Memorial Service. Once silence was achieved, he began, "A year ago today, I made a speech. Everyone who is from Earth heard me telling them that we need to be strong in the face of our newest enemy. I told them that losing our homeworld would either break us or it would strengthen us, both as a people and individually. And in truth, we are all aware that over the past year, we have seen that it did break some. There were some who refused to accept that our differences allow us to support each other.

"They allow us to bolster other's weaknesses with our strengths and in turn allow others to bolster our weaknesses with their strengths. Those who turned away from embracing differences turned towards hate instead and robbed us of almost all the leadership and guidance we had remaining to us after losing our homeworld. There were others who simply couldn't handle the pain and emotional strain of those that they had lost, be it physically or emotionally, and today is to mourn them as much as it is to mourn those that didn't survive the destruction of Earth. But for those few that we have lost either hate or tragedy, there are so many, many more who are present in this city, both those who were born on Earth, those who called it home, and those who have joined us since, seeking strength and unity with us, our successes, our strong survivors who have adapted and overcome far outweigh those we lost after losing our homeworld.

"And yet, today is not one of celebrating our success in surviving, no, that celebration isn't at hand yet. Today is the day we finally feel that we are on stable enough ground to take a pause, take a breath and mourn, to weep for those we lost when, through no fault of our own, our homeworld, those we knew and loved and cared for perished. We take this time to mourn those we maybe didn't know in person, but that we perhaps idolized, respected, or even just enjoyed the art that they created. We take this time to mourn those that we knew and perhaps didn't like all that much but would never have wished such a horrible fate to. We take this time to mourn the poor souls that none of us knew, that none of us knew the names of, don't know the faces of, those whose names, faces, histories, even their entire cultures were wiped from existence, perhaps without some or all of us knowing anything at all of them. Today is a day we mourn. And on that note, we have a number of gifted artists in their own rights, people who recalled some songs, know them well, and have all volunteered to share them with us," Daniel nodded to John at this and stepped back from the microphone.

John stood followed by Dave, Julia, and Rikki. Unlike the others' instruments, Rikki's Stradivari violin which would only be played by her and had been set to the side as it was literally a priceless artifact, the other instruments, including a second violin, were the ones that John had created after Earth's destruction on Atlantis. None of John's guitars were on the podium because he would only be singing. Dave and Julia had taken the time to carefully tune both the piano and cello in advance of the memorial service. Rikki retrieved her Stradivari, while Julia and Dave took their seats at their respective instruments.

John listened as Rikki played the first notes to be joined moments later by the other two and then he began singing the words to one of the most well-known songs from Earth, Amazing Grace. The four of them performed the entire song. They then immediately transitioned into the song Hallelujah with Julia leading into that one. Their third and final song, Dave stood and went back to his seat while John, Julia, and Rikki performed May It Be by Enya. It was a little more complex as John wasn't as familiar with the style, but he had practiced it enough that it was still well done. When they finished, John stepped back down with Dave.

Teyla took John's place at the mic, wearing the same dress she wore for Chara's passing ceremony, and offer a weak smile before speaking for a moment, "My people have a song that is song in mourning when a culling occurs. It is a song of sorrow, but also one of hope. Given the similarity of the situation to Earth, it was agreed that we should share it with our new brethren."

Once she had finished with those few words, Rikki played the introductory notes and Teyla began to sing.

"_What's left to say? These prayers aren't working anymore. Every word, shot down in flames. What's left to do with these broken pieces on the floor? I'm losing my voice calling on you._

"_Because I've been shaking, I've been bending backwards until I'm broke, watching all these dreams go up in smoke. Let beauty come out of ashes. Let beauty come out of ashes. And when I pray to the Ancestors all I ask is, can beauty come out of ashes?_

"_Can you use these tears to put out the fires in my soul? Because I need you hear, oh-._

"_Because I've been shaking, I've been bending backwards until I'm broke, watching all these dreams go up in smoke. Let beauty come out of ashes. Let beauty come out of ashes. And when I pray to the Ancestors all I ask is, can beauty come out of ashes? Can beauty come out of ashes?"_

While the song was on the shorter side, John had to admit the emotion it dragged from him hurt. Rikki quickly and quietly returned her violin to its case and brought it with her as she and Teyla both went back to their seats. They were replaced by a trio that performed The Sound of Silence. After that came a group of four that sang Queen's song Who Wants to Live Forever. The songs that came after, John didn't recognize, but all of them were fitting and John figured that Rikki knew them even if he didn't. The final song was one he did know and had in fact sung to Todd just after they had bonded. It was a well-done rendition of Fire and Rain by James Taylor and honestly an excellent finish to the music portion of the service.

After the last group cleared off the stage, Dr. Jackson, Carter, and Rikki stood. Rikki and Carter went towards the back, behind the actual stage where the covered memorial was and stood on each side of it as Jackson began speaking again, his eyes were a little red and John realized the man must have cried at some point during the music, "Our thanks to all those who provided their sincerely beautiful and heartfelt songs for the service. Now, I'm certain that all of you are wondering how it is possible to represent all the lives that were lost one year ago. To this I simply answer, it isn't. There is no means, method, or way we could manage to represent even a ten-thousandth of the names of those who were lost. It isn't even possible to create a memorial with the names of all the loved ones of the survivors of Earth's destruction. At least, not a conventional one. As I am sure you are all aware, over the past few months, the Cultural branch has requested all citizens share the photos of their lost loved ones, friends, and colleagues for the purpose of their inclusion in the memorial, along with as many memories, stories and anything information about them that could be provided.

"There was a reason for this, and nearly everyone participated with this endeavor. In return, these photos, names, information, and stories were placed in a specialized, and rather unique archive-based memorial," With this Jackson turned to watch with everyone as Rikki and Carter removed the black covers over a slow spinning globe underneath a covered area with numerous pedestals. The globe itself had all the continents in a green crystal and from John's seat, he could see the lines for each individual country as well. The oceans were of some sort of blue crystal, even the polar caps were showing in white. The massive globe was also textured, with mountain ranges and visible lakes. The whole of it was painfully and incredibly detailed. Jackson however turned back to face everyone and begin speaking before John could focus closer on it.

"You will note the pedestals around the globe behind me. On those pedestals, anyone can pull up the name of any person within the archive, they can see their face, they can learn their stories. This is so that those that we loved and lost are not and will not be forgotten. On the globe itself, within each country is the number of people who were believed to have lived, and died, the majority of those people will never have their names remembered, but their lost will not be forgotten. If you so choose, though, it is possible to tap on a country, either on the globe, or on the pedestals, to pull up all the known names of those lost and again you will be able to learn any of their stories, to see a tiny fraction of who they were. If you didn't contribute any or all your loved ones' photos and stories, fear not, all you need do is forward them to the email address you were originally given when the initial request was made and we will add those photos and stories to the archives. Likewise, should anyone desire to store the story of one person or another on a personal data pad, it is merely the matter of syncing your data pad with the pedestal that you are using. Now, a few words from the surviving ranking member of the original Atlantis Expedition, Gen. John Sheppard."

John stood and replaced Jackson in front of the mic, "I'm just going to start by saying that I shouldn't be the one standing up here. I wasn't the chosen Atlantis Expedition leader, that honor went to Dr. Elizabeth Weir, a woman who, in her time as our leader, proved that she was more than capable of holding her own as a civilian leader in a hostile territory where even supposed allies were questionable at times. She also sacrificed herself to save not only my team in a moment of crisis, but Atlantis as well, so here I stand in her stead. I also wasn't the chosen military commander. That was supposed to be Col. Marshall Sumner. In all honesty, Col. Sumner didn't like me, and he really didn't want me on the Expedition, but Gen. O'Neill and Dr. Weir didn't give him a choice. He, unfortunately died during our first encounter with the Wraith. He died a man of honor, denying the Wraith who was interrogating him the location of Earth even as he was tortured and fed upon. As the next highest-ranking of the military personnel in the city, military leadership fell to me after that, but that had never been part of the plan.

"So, no, I am not the person who should really be standing up here. In fact, if it weren't for a rouge drone, that I now firmly believe was the result of indirect interference of an ascended Ancient, it is unlikely that I would be here at all. I was only read into the Program because of that drone, and if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have been in the Antarctic Outpost that day to sit on an Ancient Control chair and make it light up without even the slightest effort. It was those events that led to my being almost coerced by Dr. Weir and Gen. O'Neill into joining the Expedition. And truth be told, I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful because it gave me, someone who was on the verge of giving up, someone who needed a shove in the right direction, that oh so necessary shove. I'm grateful because it meant that, for all the struggled and dangers we have faced on Atlantis, I know now that it was necessary and more than worth it.

"I'm grateful because it meant that, even though it was purely selfish, my family was one of the first people to arrive safely on Atlantis when Earth was evacuated. I'm grateful because I know there are so, so many others who didn't have that interference, that didn't win the genetic lottery. I know that they were perhaps even more deserving than I was at that time, but they didn't get it. And as a consequence, unlike me, they and their families died. I got lucky. I know that, more than you realize it. I got oh so very lucky. My daughter was already safely living and settled on Atlantis even before the evacuation. My high placement in the chain-of-command meant that my brother's family were considered VIPs and were on Atlantis well before the Naari were even within range to begin their attack. Hell, even my ex-wife, due to her familial relationship with Gen. O'Neill was already safe well before the attack began.

"The people that I mourn, they were people that were already distanced from me due to the nature of my previous five years as the military commander of Atlantis. It doesn't mean that their deaths weren't any less meaningful compared to anyone else who anyone on Lantea lost, but it did mean that it didn't hurt me quite as much as it did others. It also didn't mean that, despite how much I consider Atlantis home, how it is, in truth, the inheritance everyone here has received from the Ancients, that I didn't feel the full impact of losing Earth. Of being, in many ways, cut adrift from the world that had nurtured humanity for tens of thousands of years. The world that, since we successfully drove Ra off of Earth, has nurtured us, allowed us to advance to the point where, when we began encountering remarkable new technologies, or rather very old technology that was new to us, we were able to study and begin to understand it, rather than think it magic, as our ancestors would have. That is the homeworld we lost, along with the nearly seven billion people who were on it at the time.

"In fact, for every single person that was saved, 121,929 people died. That means that only 0.00082% of Earth's total population survived it's destruction. And today is the day that we have to start figuring out how to move beyond that, to figure out how we remember 99.999% of the people who were born on Earth. Now, I don't think that those of us who are old enough to remember even five or six of those people who died will be able to truly ever move past the loss of Earth and its people. That said, we need find a way to somehow make this galaxy, and the galaxy we were born into, into a united front, to ensure that we can stop those who took all those lives from us and prevent them from wiping out other worlds and other homes. I know it may not happen in my lifetime, but I hope that it will happen within my children's lifetimes. And I will do my best to ensure that those who died, their deaths will not be in vain, because we will use it to fuel our quest to bring an end to the tyranny of those who killed them and to protect the innocent from a similar fate."

John wasn't certain if it was the best speech he could make. Hell, it didn't even sound all that mournful, it certainly felt like, at least to him, it rambled on, but it had been the best he could do in the time since he had been informed he had to make a speech by O'Neill. It felt a little too military-like, but then they were at war, even if the enemy of the Naari didn't entirely know it. Jackson had stood and retook the mic as John sat back down and leaned into Todd's side a little. Jackson began in on his speech about various cultures that he had encountered on Earth and their different mourning practices. From the Egyptian practice of mummification, past the Tibetan Sky Burials, through to the New Age practice of natural burials. It would have felt more like a cultural lecture if not for Jackson explaining each method and how each way spoke of the spirit and death not being the final end.

After Jackson, came Carter who focused on her personal experience of the dawning horror and sorrow she felt when she realized even before the arrival of the first ship the futility it would be to fight and the necessity to choose to save as many people as possible instead. She spoke of how, many times before, SG-1 had fought and succeeded in staving off assaults on Earth, thus making her failure all the more keenly felt, especially after her time in command of Atlantis.

Next came Woolsey, who spoke of what it was like to stepping into the rather large shoes of Weir and Carter. He spoke of his time serving as a representative of the IOA, first on Earth and then on Atlantis. He spoke of his joy in learning that Atlantis was going to be a colony and how it had morphed into horror as mere hours after they had returned Atlantis to Lantea they received word of Earth's imminent destruction. Of the painful realization that any survivors would be sent to Atlantis, as it was the most stable outpost Earth had. He spoke of how he had prayed over those three hours that Carter was wrong and the threat could be dealt with, how he prayed, as the attack began on Earth for the SGC to hold out for just a little longer, for more people to be saved and shoved through the stargate, even if they were terrified they would still be safe. He spoke of the emotional breakdown a few days later, when he couldn't contain it anymore, at the loss of so many lives. Woolsey spoke of how it had been his dedication and belief in the goodness of humanity that had driven him to first defense law and then politics, to a life of civil service and how it had torn at him to recognize that so very many that he had dedicated his life to had perished when his ultimate hope had been to relieve the strain on Earth's resources by the eventual opening up of Lantea as a second homeworld for humanity.

Woolsey's speech was long and gave John a little more insight into the man who he had only truly gotten to know in the past two years. John had learnt the Wooley's zealous nature had come from a genuine desire to see that the best for humanity was achieved but learning that that had _always _been Woolsey's hope and not just from the start of his time on Atlantis was new information. After him came O'Neill who kept it short. He simply expressed a wish that he had built the biggest, toughest fleet of ships the universe had ever seen to protect Earth and it's many people and his remorse that even though he had ultimately been a pawn of the Ancients to buy humanity time, he hadn't been able to deal with this threat.

Keller spoke of how for the first week after Earth's destruction, she hadn't had free time to think, much less have a break down. That she had been entangled in surgery after surgery, forced to send Beckett to staff meetings in her place during that time as she was so swamped with the injured. She spoke of the struggle of watching some of those who had been injured in the bombardment die, even as she and other doctors had desperately attempted to save those lives. She wiped away angry tears and swore that though she had sworn a Hippocratic Oath to harm none, if faced with a Naari, she wouldn't be able to maintain that oath after spending countless hours attempting to save human lives if it meant that she could safeguard one human life in that encounter.

John's cousin Abby spoke of the struggle and the pain of the children who had been evacuated, either because they had shared a classroom with a priority family member or because they were in one of the lucky schools that had been targeted by the 304s at towards the end of the evacuation. Her speech wasn't long, but it hit home, John sensed for a lot of people and in particular the Wraithkin as he picked up a strong sense of remorse from them as Abby spoke of the pain all those children went through. Being old enough to know they would never see their parents again, being scared in the new and uncertain environment and angry, needing desperately the outlet for their overwhelming emotions.

Dr. Torres was the last the take the stage and she didn't focus on the pain of their lose, but rather on the change she had seen in the humanity of those who were on Lantea over the past year. She spoke of the rapid evolution of their culture and the new bonds they had formed, with the Wraithkin, Jaffa, and Nox, as well as with the other worlds of Pegasus. Hers was a message of hope and unity. It was of all they could accomplish if they looked to the future, to the future of all humanity and used it to honor those who were lost.

That was the closing note and as soon as everyone started getting up and moving about, John was crowded with the Daganian representatives along with several others. A few of the less politically interactive commented on the rudeness of the Genii to fail to be present, which forced John to explain that the majority of the Genii were either in the process of dying or were dead due to exposure to some toxin from their experiments. He explained that the Genii had asked that Atlantis take the least ill of their children, and Atlantis had. This was met with a mixture of respect from some of the representatives for the choice of the Lanteans to help the few Genii and distaste from others, mainly those that thought the only good Genii was a dead one.

Before the conversation could turn to anything else, Galahad Swordborne, who was in charge of monitoring the Hive frequencies and planetary shield array for the day, approached, his expression grim, "Sir, Queen Silverclaw just reported that there is a strong Wraith distress signal being broadcast from Genia. She also reports that there has been no Hives near that planet for the past two months and that the Genii shields haven't activated as they would if a Hive were in sufficient proximity to the planet. She is requesting permission to investigate."

"Are there Wraith Hives close enough to pick up the signal?" John asked with a concerned frown. He glanced at the curious on-lookers but shrugged it off. It wasn't exactly supposed to be shocking that they had ships patrolling the galaxy looking for Wraith hives to either convert or kill depending on the circumstance. With their enhanced sensors it was a bit of a game of cat and mouse. If they couldn't get the drop on the Wraith, who apparently had developed sensors for their wormhole drive now, the hives would jump to hyperspace before they could take out their hyperdrives.

"No hives, sir. However, there are several Wraith controlled worlds with numerous cruisers guarding them within a distance to pick up the signal. If they do, it is possible that they will send some cruisers to investigate, if they haven't already," Swordborne responded with the kind of detail that John liked.

This was why John appreciated his Wraithkin Specialists, in their own way they understood the need for as much information as possible but had learnt not to throw it all at their human counterparts at once and overwhelm them with it. John nodded, "Tell her she has my approval but to keep at a healthy distance under cloak and shields. She is only to engage if cruisers arrive and appear ready to attack the planet. Silverclaw does have permission to scan for any humans and children and extract them though. Also, let the gate technician on duty that I will be there shortly with the intention of contacting the Genii. I want to know what is going on."

"As do I," Princess Flora, the representative of her sister Queen Harmony for the Memorial, requested. Swordborne nodded and left as Flora continued. "As you well know we have no love lost between us and the Genii and I believe I want to know what Chief Radim is up to."

"If he's still alive, though he looked like he was still around and kicking two days ago when we last contacted Genia. We've been trying to keep tabs so that we can see if, when Radim dies, we can contact those who are less sick and see if we can't help them. Radim rejected the offer, so we can't exactly do it now," John explained what he could of the situation.

Princess Flora nodded with a resigned expression, "Your compassion for those who do not desire or even deserve it is perhaps an odd quality, but my people must admit that it has worked to your benefit." She nodded her head in the direction of Todd.

"Yeah, we're weird like that, but if it makes us all stronger, it can't be a bad thing," John responded with a shrug. Besides, we have to work under the assumption that not all of the people are in agreement with their government's decisions like you are on Harmony. We've seen more than enough uprisings over the past few decades alone that we know it isn't always happy little worlds. Hell, we've helped with more than a few of them when the governments were particularly nasty."

Flora nodded in understanding at this, "Which is a problem that we fortunately do not have on Harmony. The Queens of our world have long endeavored to ensure the prosperity, safety, and health of our people."

"Something we on Atlantis whole heartedly agree is the correct way of going about running any form of government. The wellbeing of the people should always be a priority," John agreed. There was a murmuring of agreement of the surrounding dignitaries. Most of those who were present were the ones that understood that kind of need for the survival of their people. One or two had even been on worlds where the Lanteans had helped with such uprisings.

"Well, I should go investigate what is going on with this, since it doesn't sound good," John informed them.

A good half dozen of the dignitaries, including Princess Flora insisted on coming along and Todd was just behind John as well. O'Neill and Carter broke away to see what was going on and the group grew larger as they made their way back to the control tower. John contained his annoyance with the curious dignitaries, knowing full well that anything odd that the Genii were up to couldn't be pinned on them if they were there as witnesses, not that these guys were going to trust the word of a Genii anyway.

As soon as they reached the control room, Swordborne turned to John, "Queen Silverclaw is positioned, under cloak and shields, towards the edge of the Genia solar system. Two of the Wraith controlled worlds appear to have already sent cruisers to investigate. They are expected to arrive in ten minutes."

"Right, dial up the Genii. I want to know if they know what's going on," John ordered the Wraithkin technician that he didn't actually know the name of. The guy wasn't someone who John recognized, but then there were a lot of Wraithkin in the city at this point, even if they were still a minority.

The man immediately started dialing the gate address, so John figured he had already looked it up and memorized it. When the gate connected, he activated the specialized signal system that would allow them to communicate with the Genii. It would alert any Genii in their communications room of the incoming transmission. There was a pause of about a minute before, to John's surprise, Ladon's image and voice appeared on the screen, "Ah, Gen. Sheppard. I expected this might draw your attention. Not that it is relevant at this point. The signal has been active for long enough to garner the attention we wanted draw."

"Does that mean that the Wraith distress signal was sent out by your people, Radim?" John asked, concern lacing his voice. To his relief, while the others were watching, they were far enough back that they weren't in the direct line of sight of the video feed. If Radim wanted to make them look bad, by faking some sort of attack that they didn't defend against, it wasn't going to work.

Ladon smirked, "Yes, well, we are dying anyway, I likely have only a few days at most left. Well, I would if it wasn't for our rather cunning plan. It's rather ingenious if I do say so myself. Of course, I came up with it, so that might just be hybris talking. I'm sure you know how my people have plenty of that given our fate."

John got a sinking feeling as the man spoke, "Ladon, what are you up to?" He knew suspicion laced his voice now. That suspicion doubled as a man came and whispered something in Ladon's ear.

"Hm… ensuring that while we may not get the last laugh, we can at least take a few Wraith out in the process. In fact, I've just been informed that there is now a hive and two cruisers in proximity of the estimated blast radius. I do believe that is enough to give my people the honorable death that they deserve," Ladon remarked, all too satisfied with himself. "I do recommend that you shut down the gate though, I'm not entirely certain what would happen with regards to a wormhole if one end is vaporized while it is active, even if it is the receiving end."

John felt the blood drain from his face, "Don't do this Ladon, there are people on your world we can still save if you just let us. We already told you that the Tok'ra are willing to take the healthier ones as hosts if the people are willing. They can have long, healthy lives with the history of the Genii being preserved with the Tok'ra through their genetic memory. You don't have to do this. It's a waste of life."

Ladon barked out a laugh, "And I told you that no Genii would be willing to give up their full autonomy just to stave off death for a while. You have our future already in the form of our surviving children, along with all our histories. You are too noble minded to do anything other then what you swore you would with regards to both. Now you really should shut down your gate. The moment that the shielding over our populous activate, it will set off the overload of the ZPMs we've managed to acquire."

John hesitated for a moment before giving the order, "Shut down the gate. Swordborne, tell Silverclaw to get further away now. I want to know how big the blast is, but she isn't to risk her Hive."

"Yes, sir," Swordborne responded. Swordborne contacted the hive and John shifted over to observe their long-range sensors where they were focused in on the Genia system.

They watched as the little blip representing Silverclaw's hive backed away from the planet while the two smaller blips that John figured were the cruisers were getting closer to the planet from the opposite end of the system. He cringed that Silverclaw wasn't going to be able to even check for humans and children on board the ships and could only hope they didn't have any. He cursed as he realized the cruisers were moving in faster than Silverclaw's hive was able to move away, "Tell Silverclaw to drop the cloak and raise her shields to max, I don't know if she's going to be out of range of the blast by the time it goes off. Hopefully, she's far enough away that it will be weak enough to be shielded against. Or better yet, do a small hyper jump."

Swordborne relayed the message and John cringed as the Hive slowed further, most likely because their power was being diverted from the sub-lights to the shields rather than making the small jump. It was her choice, but he wished she put a priority on distance instead, especially as the cruisers reached proximity to the planet. The system immediately lit up to indicate there were Wraith over Genia. It only lasted for a few seconds before the signal to cut off and the two cruisers disappeared from the screen. Silverclaw's hive was still on the screen.

"Can you contact them?" John asked immediately.

"Yes, Mutterwords, Silverclaw's communications officer, reports that they got full scans of the blast, though it severely depleted their ZPM to maintain the Hive's shields and the Hive took some minor damage. It is nothing too severe, but without the strength of the shields, the blast would likely have decimated the Hive," Swordborne was frowning as he read through the information coming.

"Right, do they need help, or can they get back by themselves?" John asked. While he could read Wraith to a decent extent now, it didn't extend too far into the technical jargon of their ships, given that their technology had a significant difference to Lantean and Asgardian.

"They can still utilize their wormhole drive. They will be arriving shortly," Swordborne responded.

"Good, have them transfer the data of the blast into our systems and whatever damage they need help with. Also, send a transmission to Windwhip. I want her to _carefully, _go in and assess the damage of the aftermath. Tell her to keep her distance until her scanners can determine if they took out their star, destabilized it, or if it's fine. If it isn't stable, she is to take what scans she can get at a safe distance. I don't want her caught in a blast from the star dying from what just happened. If it looks fine, she should still exercise extreme caution and keep a close eye on it to make sure it stays that way," John instructed. He then turned to the delegates who bore a mixture of awe, confused, and unsettled on their expressions. These were dependent on their stance on John's relationship to one of their precious Ancestors.

Princess Flora was the one to break the silence, "The Genii really destroyed their entire solar system?"

"Looks like it," John confirmed. "We'll have more information later, like how much damage they managed to do, but they did have three different settlements, so that means three different ZPMs with shields. Chief Radim must have figured out how to trigger a maximum blast from an overload of all three."

"Is this possible with our shields?" Dimas of Riva asked with a great deal of concern.

"While it is technically possible, it is highly improbable. Chief Radim would have had to intentionally tamper with the coding of the system within the shields, which are designed to not overload, in order to have set that explosion off. Furthermore, the systems will alert us if there is something wrong with the shield's programing, which means he had to have disabled that as well. This was a very deliberate effort. The Genii are… were very familiar with Wraith technology and coding, and since the shields were created by Todd, who is Wraithkin, and also their prisoner for a time that likely made it easier for him to do such a thing," John reassured.

"But would a Wraith worshipper be able to do so?" Kelore of Latira asked.

"No. No Wraith would be foolish enough to teach their worshippers how to tamper with their systems. Even if they came from literate or somewhat advanced worlds, it is unlikely that they would be allowed to learn so much as how to read the Wraith language, much less be aware of the alert systems build into the devices to prevent tampering. It is only possible for the Genii to have done so because of their familiarity with the Wraith language and coding, as well as their advanced state of technology and their familiarity and knowledge of Lanteans that allowed for them to tamper with the devices in such a manner," Todd countered immediately.

The others seemed to relax a bit at this. Flora sighed, "Well, the Genii have always been rather particularly determined with their unique form of stupidity. I wish I could say I'm surprised with them blowing themselves up, but I think that was a bit of a forgone conclusion with the type of technology they were playing with."

This received a series of nods from the other delegates. O'Neill suggested that they all go back to the memorial service and John found himself reluctantly agreeing. It didn't take long for word to spread like wildfire, especially when Silverclaw's hive returned in orbit and a good number of the Wraithkin gathered up the younger ones and herded them back to their living areas. Lya of the Nox told the council that she would arrange for the Genii children to be informed of the event.

The rest of the day passed at an agonizingly slow pace and John waited to hear back from Windwhip. When the data finally came through it was found that the system's star, and the majority of their planets were completely gone, only the two outermost planets were still there and they were more chunks the size of large asteroids rather than anything big enough to qualify as a planet. They only reason they figured those were what remained of the planets at all was that there were there at all when the asteroid belt further out was gone. They had also been pushed outward and were now in a trajectory away from the epicenter of the blast without the star to hold them in orbit. The hive had kept the shields up throughout the scans to prevent any of the residual radiation from damaging the hull as there was a significant amount, even as far back from the epicenter as the edge of the system.

John practically collapsed in his bed with Todd that night, "The Genii really had to do this on the first anniversary of Earth's destruction? I mean, it isn't like they didn't know what today was, plus the assholes set off something that I'm pretty damned sure Ladon knew was probably going to draw a few of our people in."

"He has made no attempt to conceal his disdain for the Wraithkin. I suspect he felt that their deaths would hold just as much a sense of victory to his people as those of the Wraith. It is fortunate that Silverclaw and her hive were able to use their shields at full power," Todd pointed out.

John huffed, "No kidding, their ZPM was damned near depleted. I'm surprised they managed to open the wormhole drive with only 0.6% left to the thing. Ladon Radim was a fucking diva, even on his way out, and he had to be stubborn enough to take the people we could have saved with him too."

"There is always the possibility that there are others who were not on the planet," Todd pointed out.

John shook his head, "Only if they were rouge. Ladon would have recalled all of his people. That fucker was unlikely to ignore something like that."

"Perhaps, and perhaps those who were rouge, went so because they had no desire to belong to a dictatorship or because they had no wish to die," Todd countered.

"Maybe," John shrugged before curling around his husband to get what rest he could.

**A****N: The song that Teyla sung, if you didn't recognize it, is Ashes by Céline Dion. The rest of the songs were mentioned, and honestly, any other songs I would have wanted to include were written after 2009 so they wouldn't have flown for continuity. Ashes, however, definitely felt like a song, if slightly altered, would be the kind of song the Athosians would sing after a Culling in mourning for those who were taken. As for the way I took out the Genii, I seriously think that this is how Ladon would have done it, considering he knew they were dying. After all, this was a guy whose coup consisted of him blowing up Cowen and his supporters with a nuke, which definitely qualifies as overkill. **

**ANN: Also, if you are wondering about the significance of Rikki's violin, I am a bit of a music nerd (eight years of choir will do that to a person). Antonio Stradivari was a violin maker from the late 1600s/throughout 1700s who is arguably the best violin maker to have ever lived. His instruments were crafted in a manner that is lost to time, as he never shared his methods before he died so it is impossible to replicate his work, from the structure of the violins to how he treated the woods was all kept secret. Each violin of his still in existence is currently valued at roughly an average of $10 million US today depending on condition, so his violins are the musical equivalent of a De Vinci painting and if you ever hear one (you can find videos of professionals playing a few of them on YouTube) the sound is definitely in a league of its own (yes, even centuries later people are still playing the violins that Stradivari made himself). Most of these instruments are kept in specialized vaults when not being used by world class violin performers, especially the ones from the 'Golden Period' (which you can assume that Rikki's would be given that her grandfather, Patrick, would have totally spoiled his eldest and smartest grandchild who also looked like his beloved late wife). So, yeah, I had Rikki bring a $10 million violin with her to Pegasus and it is now a priceless artifact in the story.**


	28. Chapter 28

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

Chapter 28: Anniversary

John was hiding in a remote part of Atlantis. An area of Atlantis that people didn't go to much, even though it was now a thriving city. In truth, even with the thousands and thousands of people, human, Jaffa, and Wraithkin alike, there were still plenty of places like this. Atlantis was the size of Manhattan, with miles of halls within the basic structure in addition to the multitude of towers. Thus, there were plenty of places like this hideaway, which was conveniently the furthest point within the city from Todd's lab. He wasn't hiding for a simple reason, but rather because the distance meant that Todd wouldn't be immediately aware when he put up the mental shielding he developed for when he wanted to give his husband some sort of surprise, though the opportunities for those weren't common at present.

With it being the day before their first anniversary, John was completing the final calculations for the second half of his anniversary present for Todd, which he had gotten Jeannie to agree to use the Asgard core to make. He had come up with the idea when he noticed that all the bonded carriers wore hair pieces like the one that Bitterwind had gifted to Fianna when she was born. John asked Bitterwind about it and got the responds that it was common practice for newly bonded sires to give their carriers such hair pieces. John asked if they compared to the wedding rings that humans wore and Bitterwind confirmed they did, though she understood why John hadn't given one to Todd, as he hadn't known.

Now, he had two different items calculated out and designs that he had carefully drawn, using Celtic symbols. A ring, a wedding ring, for John to wear and a Wraith/Wraithkin hair piece for Todd. Both would have the Claddagh on it. The hair piece would have the tree of life above it and be interspersed with other Celtic knots. The Claddagh on John's ring would have the knots along the band of the ring. He smirked as he triple checked the calculations for what he wanted. The Asgard Core could scan designs and put them on the surface of different things, but it still required calculations for size, shapes, and materials.

The materials themselves would have to be paid for with John's credits, but the raw elements that had been taken from the core of the star they had drained were still a surplus, so the expense was minimal. It was the calculations for the alloys and for the Core crafted gemstones that had been the most complex. John had settled on emerald for Todd's hair piece and amber-colored chrysoberyl for his Claddagh heart. The emerald was beryllium aluminum silicate in chemical composition while the chrysoberyl was beryllium aluminum oxide. John had decided on the colors to match their eyes.

With a nod, he confirmed that the calculations were as good as they could get and, keeping the mental shield up so that Todd couldn't track him down the typical way, headed for Jeannie's lab. He knew that his husband knew John was up to something. It was impossible to not notice when John disappeared and guarded his thoughts. Thankfully, Todd's impulse wasn't to think of it as anything to distrust. John did sense a little bit of hurt and knew that Todd thought that John just wanted time alone in his own head space, but there wasn't much he could do to sooth the hurt without outing his surprise. Plus, the evidence of why he was really hiding should sooth any potential hurt feelings. He had already planned everything out for their anniversary dinner. Teyla had agreed to watch Fianna for the night, John had expended the extra credits for the special dinner he planned on making and had the supplies hidden in Rikki's group's suite. He had even gotten Rodney, Rikki, and Jeannie to promise to keep Todd distracted for most of the day so that he could set up their suite for the dinner as well as his little intro. He had even done the sappiest thing imaginable and actually written a song that he intended on singing to Todd, since his husband loved to listen to John singing and expressed a frequent desire to hear something that John had written.

John wrinkled his nose when he saw Dr. Nicholas Rush in the Jeannie's lab when he arrived. Rush had been put in charge of the Sciences department for the college level students. The man, when not grumbling about the shelving of the Icarus Project he had been heading before Earth's destruction, was pestering the PhDs to teach a class or ten. John had himself been forced to shut down Rush when the man attempted to coerce both John and Todd into teaching classes. Rikki had refused to teach classes but had recently agreed to take on two new interns if they could pass the impossible test that she had created and given to the man a few days ago. The test had been a couple of equations that Rikki and her friends hadn't been able to sort out themselves. She said the people to solve even one of the equations would get the internship, provided they weren't morally corrupt. Rush had thrown a fit because he pointed out that _he _probably couldn't solve either equation.

Rikki had simply pointed out that if he wanted her to take on interns, they had better be the best damned interns available. She then told him to feel free to open it up to all the science students, not just the postgraduates. Rush had grumbled and left in a huff, to John's amusement. As far as John was concerned, it was a master move on Rikki's part, since if she was struggling with it, if any person who could figure it out, they _deserved _to be her intern. This time, it looked like Rush was trying to get Jeannie to accept a few interns.

"Rush, I've told you a thousand times already that most of what I'm working on is equipment that is too delicate to be handled by inexperienced morons. The majority of your postgraduates have their heads stuck way too far up their asses with over confidence and I'm not having them destroy the growing of control crystals for vital systems like the city's engines or our ships' control chairs. I'm also working on an adaptive interface for getting the control chairs to work in the hives for our Wraithkin and believe me if I have to deal with one more little idiot mistakenly erasing my equation like Tunney did the last time you sent him in here to badger me to teach a class, I will personally eviscerate you and your teaching staff. Now, I have work to do and Gen. Sheppard is waiting for me for a special project he needs completed. So, kindly get the fuck out of my office," Jeannie finished with a glare. It was only times like this that people remembered that Jeannie was Rodney's sister since she was generally better at dealing with people and less abrasive.

Rush glared at John as he left, though he was clearly unwilling to piss two people off in one day, "That man is ridiculous. He's got plenty of PhDs teaching classes. The best minds Earth had to offer were on those mandatory evacuation lists, so there are plenty of them. I heard he's even got Tyson teaching like six different classes a day."

"He does," Jeannie confirmed before relaxing a little. "Have you finished your calculations?"

John nodded and handed over his notebook. Jeannie checked the calculations and looked at the designs before smiling, "This is a really sweet anniversary present."

"Hey, I've always been the best at giving presents. The only time I've been out done was when my dad bought Rikki that damned Stradivarius violin. Don't get me wrong, I adore my daughter, both of them, to the edge of the universe and back, but a $10 million dollar violin is an over the top present," John pointed out as they made their way to the Core.

Jeannie, Rikki, Rodney, and Todd weren't the only ones allowed to use the thing anymore. There was probably a list of a hundred scientists who were trained and authorized to use the system. John simply wasn't one of them. He didn't have the patience or time to take the training for the Core and it wasn't as if he could afford the shifts of running the thing when they were creating new supplies for this or that, or when some artistically inclined person in the city provided new clothing designs. Fashion post-Earth was an experience in the varied. The Wraithkin in particular had taken to the freedom from the standard constraints of their former lives to dress with colors that often clashed with their skin tone, when they weren't on missions or training, that was.

John loved it. It felt like, as Daniel had said, the loss of their homeworld had forced everyone to accept that differences could make them stronger. It didn't matter if those differences were in enjoying wearing funky clothing or the color of their skin, the difference in their skills as a cook, a scientist, an artist, a farmer, they all needed each other. They were also seeing, perhaps for the first time in a very long time in human history how much they needed each other to survive. It was a beautiful thing, as far as John was concerned. He watched at Jeannie scanned the designs in, entered the calculations, aligned and neatened both the designs of both on a holographic 3D projection before confirming the creation of them. The ring was first, and John smiled as he noted that the stone heart was actually physically imbedded in the platinum ring as opposed to how traditional settings were affixed.

John was uncertain of how the hair piece would turn out until he had it in hand, the two-inch long cylinder tube opened and clicked close just as neatly as he wanted it to with tiny, nearly invisible hinges that weren't visible from the outside. The seam on the front wasn't obvious either when the hair piece was closed. He had carefully examined the work on Fianna's hair piece to replicate it for Todd's present. John raised an eyebrow when Jeannie created a box to place both in.

"I did the calculations for that myself, when I realized what you were up to, given your description of your present. It's only a matter of time until other couples like yours pop up, so I hope you don't mind if I keep the base calculations in the system for future use. Who knows, maybe in the future, it might even be used in a sort of ceremony for a Wraithkin carrier and human sire. Though, I suppose we might be long gone before it can be seen," Jeannie looked at him with a smile.

John just nestled the ring and hair piece into their places, "Who knows. I know I've got a stupid, half formed speech for Todd tomorrow."

Jeannie chuckled a little at that, "This really is very sweet. Though, you know when Meredith finds out he is going to be calling you the mother of all saps, right?"

"Why do you think I asked you to help me with this and not Rodney or Sam? Both would have teased me. Rodney would have also caved the second Todd trying questioning him what I was up to with him," John shook his head.

Jeannie snorted in agreement, "No kidding. It baffles me how Meredith managed to work for a top-secret program for so long without accidently revealing everything to some pretty face."

John shrugged, "I think he values his job too much. It's a good thing the Trust never attempted to have him kidnapped and tortured for information though, or he would have compromised everything."

Jeannie nodded in agreement, "Right, well, now I have actual work to get back to. I took the pricing for the materials used out of your credits, so that's all good. Carter and Woolsey are being meticulous on making sure everyone is 'paying' for their portions."

"Yeah, well, it's important, even if we've gone over to a purely socialist democracy these days. Who knew the post-apocalypse would be so… enlightened?" John joked before pocketing the box. Jeannie agreed before leaving.

John went to Rikki's room and stored the present along with the food supplies and settings for the dinner. Tom was in the suite and just shook his head, "You are setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us, you know?"

John raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh? Got a girlfriend who is setting her standards by Wraithkin bonds?"

Tom snorted, "Nah. I'm too picky for that. I don't think I could handle a relationship with someone who wasn't on the same level as me intellectually, or at least in the same range as me and my friends. Plus, I want someone who I have more in common with than being genetically compatible. Someone on the same wavelength as me, you know. Someone I can really relate to. I mean, you're a perfect example of what happens if you try to make it work with someone who isn't on the same wavelength as you. Nancy is a nice enough lady, when she isn't getting paranoid at least, but you and Nancy weren't compatible, and it failed. Comparing that your marriage to Todd and well… I only knew you for a year of your marriage with Nancy, but you and Todd are way more balanced. That's the kind of relationship I want to have. Someone who balances me and gets me. So, yeah, you set the bar high, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Todd's lucky to have you, and so are both your girls. They get to see firsthand how a real man treats the ones he loves. I'm sure that you are the standard that Rikki and Fianna are going to be holding everyone that tries to date them and that's exactly where they should have that standard."

John patted Tom's shoulder, "If that's the way you think, I think when you find that someone that is your everything, you'll do just fine." John offered him a genuine smile and left.

He shook his head as he headed to his office to get some paperwork. Tom had basically described Rikki while failing to realizing it. That was probably a good thing though. Rikki may have had her 14th birthday a little over two months ago, but she was still way too young for any kind of relationship and John knew that she was holding out until she was old enough that it wasn't creepy if Tom did end up with her. He figured he had another two to four years until Tom realized what he wanted was under his nose, but he also knew, from how Tom was just talking that the kid wouldn't make a move until Rikki was old enough and mature enough to start a romantic relationship, if he even realized before then.

The rest of the day, after he had released the mental shield, John spent working his way through paperwork. Most of it was reports with regards to missions and training, though more training than missions. At this point, they had the Wraith on the ropes. Their ships were making more and more trips back to the Milky Way to gather data and there were now discussions on whether they wanted to try taking a few Naari as prisoners to gather intel. John finished most of his work before dinner time and muttered about the annoyance of being 'The Man' now. He, Abby, and Jack had meet ups to complain about it, though Abby and Jack were at least old enough that it wasn't as weird that they were in positions of authority. John was about to hit 40 but now looked closer to 30 thanks to his bond and the chemicals it created. It was looking annoyingly like Jennifer would be right about John getting a possibly indefinite anti-aging trait. He figured that he should look at the positives. He wouldn't be shuffled behind a desk like O'Neill for a long while, not while John was lethal and efficient in the field. He could avoid the pesky little medical problems from growing old. He would get to have a bunch more kids and watch them all grow up.

Todd was already in their rooms, feeding Fianna. John smiled at the two of them, kissed Todd before laying a peck on his daughter's head. From there, he whipped up a quick dinner of Porcuboar burgers and steamed tuttle root. Todd was a little quiet, but John knew that if there was something bothering him, Todd would mention it before it got too much for him to handle.

Todd woke the morning that marked one year since he and John had consummated their bond and wondered again if John regretted allowing Todd such close proximity at the start of their bond. For the past several weeks, when John was not buried in paperwork or training, he was vanishing to some part of the city that Todd wasn't familiar with. Unfortunately, as his mate's mind was significantly stronger than his own, there was little Todd could do to determine if his concerns were warranted or not. He also couldn't change the boundaries of their relationship unless John agreed to it. While he did have a greater autonomy from his instincts after giving birth to their daughter, he still recoiled at the idea of making a major relationship decision like sleeping arrangements without any knowledge to if John desired a change.

Todd shook the thought out of his head as he heard his mate murmuring to their daughter as he fed her. Todd got up and dressed to go running with John and Ronon. Fianna was strapped into her jogging carriage already when Todd was ready. The run was as normal as it was every morning. However, as he was changing for the day, John gave him a kiss that lingered and wore a knowing smile even as he slid a mental shield in place, not enough that Todd couldn't feel emotions from him, but enough that Todd didn't know what he was thinking. All he knew was that his mate was excited about something. It was John's turn that day to have Fianna and he took his time getting their daughter ready as Todd got a call from Rodney asking for assistance with some calculations.

The majority of the day was spent being shuffled between Rodney, Rikki, and Jeannie, all of whom needed his help with some project or another. The only one that didn't seem like it was something that could have been made purely for distraction was Rikki's request that he help her friend Jeffery with a hiccup in his calculations for his dissertation work. John dropped by briefly for lunch and seemed to slips something to Rikki in a whispered conversation but kept it low enough that Todd didn't pick up on whatever it was that he was telling his elder daughter.

It took Todd until midafternoon to determine where the problem was with the power conversion equations for Jeff's beaming technology. The young man thanked him profusely before Rikki got Todd to help her with her calculations for making a new, longer lasting power source for the personal cloaking and shielding devices she was working on developing. If she completed these devices, it would mean that they could infiltrate Naari controlled worlds without detection, so Todd could understand the need for ensuring they had a stable and long-lasting power source.

Rikki announced that they were done when an alarm beeped from her pad although the equation was far from being resolved, "Finally! Okay, distracting you done. Dad said to tell you he is sending you on a scavenger hunt. Here's your first clue." She handed Todd a slip of paper earning a raised eyebrow.

Rikki shrugged, "Hey, Dad just asked me to keep you distracted. I had stuff you could actually do, so yeah. Smile, this is supposed to be fun."

"Right," Todd responded skeptically. He unfolded the paper and read 'The next clue is with the caretaker of the remains of the people who first united us'.

Todd sighed, uncertain to what the point of this 'scavenger hunt' was, but willing to indulge his mate, to whatever end it was. The answer to this first riddle was obviously the caretaker of the Genii children, so he took the transporter to the one that would get him closest to the hall where the Genii children lived. When he found a highly amused looking Nox who handed him a second piece of paper, "General Sheppard said that this is a sort of human game that they play when they want to entertain children or invoke certain memories in a romantic gesture. I find this quite amusing. I think it could be adapted for turning lessons for the children into games as well."

Todd rolled his eyes, a habit he had picked up from working too much with McKay. This clue read 'The next clue is with the one who's life you saved, after I saved you from starving'. This was another simple answer. It was also a reminder of the first spark of genuine appeal beyond curiosity he had in John. He knew that John had persuaded the man he had fed on while on Earth to allow him to do so in order to save Jeannie Miller's life. It was a significant act given how much Todd now knew how highly human life was valued. He went to Jeannie's lab and she gave him a knowing smirk as she handed over the next clue, "John is such a sap. A cute sap, but a sap. You have my permission to tell him I said that, by the way."

"How is this 'scavenger hunt' sappy, if I might ask?" Todd questioned the woman he worked well with.

"Because he is making you walk down memory lane, now read the damned clue. I'm going to meet up with my husband and daughter for dinner," Jeannie responded with a shake of her head before leaving him to the clue.

This one read 'The next clue is with the child of the mastermind behind the destruction of the Asurans'. Todd sighed, it was becoming obvious that John was attempting to incite memories of the times they worked together to defeat enemies, but to what end, he wasn't certain. The most that memory invoked was the first time they had worked together with some semblance of trust involved. He went to Rodney and Jennifer's suite to find their son William.

The boy smirked as he handed over the clue, "I don't know why Uncle John is doing this, but it's funny."

Todd ignored the comment and opened the paper, 'The next clue is with the woman who mentally battled a Queen to help us escape after your little stunt with the cloning facility.' Todd grumbled a little as he walked the short distance to Teyla's rooms, reminded that he had needed rescuing and for some reason, John and his team had actually came through when he hadn't actually expected them to. Teyla gave him a raised eyebrow as she handed over the paper without commenting. This clue read, 'The next clue is with the one who made Teyla look like a Wraith Queen so that _you _could take control over your then Hive Alliance.'

These riddles were simple, but Todd had to admit that it was interesting in a way, this was a part of their budding relationship where Todd had begun to truly become attached to John. The point where he took control over his former hive alliance was also the point where he had committed to a course of choosing a path that he knew would repeatedly bring him onto John's side of the fight. He also knew that there were only so many interactions that they had between that event and before Todd took the successful retrovirus and bonded with John. He went down to the infirmary to see Dr. Keller give him a bright smile, "Having fun?" She asked as she handed over the next clue.

"From what I have been able to determine, this 'scavenger hunt' is to remind me of the beginnings of our relationship. I am uncertain as to what ends it is for though," Todd admitted as he took the slip.

"It's supposed to be romantic. Though, in your case, your courtship wasn't exactly conventional was it?" Keller teased. "Need help with the clue?"

Todd unfolded it and read, 'He was in charge of the meeting on the Daedalus when you took it over after the Attero device.' Todd shook his head, grateful that Wraithkin did not blush as humans did. Otherwise, he would have shown a bit of embarrassment over the folly of thinking that John would have allowed Woolsey to have betrayed him in such a manner, "These clues are all rather simple. The next I must seek out is Mr. Woolsey."

"Right, well, have fun. I'm going to collect Rodney and we're having dinner in the main mess hall," Keller told him rather pointedly as she nodded to Dr. Lam who was sitting at her desk. Todd realized that Keller must have waited to leave until he arrived.

He also realized he wasn't entirely certain of where Mr. Woolsey would be located, but he guessed his office as the man was a notorious workaholic. The hike up the stairs of the main tower got Todd a few looks, but his guess proved correct. Woolsey smiled, "I've always found these cute little games romantic. I'm thinking of doing something similar with Katie when I propose… Please don't tell anyone I said that." Woolsey blushed a little as he handed over the clue.

Todd was beginning to suspect that John was attempting to send him to as many people as possible in this exercise as he read, 'He led the other team when we helped you with the incomplete retrovirus after it started to kill you.' This one Todd had to think for a moment before recalling that it was John's cousin, Lorne, who led the other team. Thankfully, Todd had seen Lorne in the main control room on his way to Woolsey's office, or he wouldn't have known where to locate the man. Todd shook his head at the reminder of how much he had trusted John when he was at death's door to have sought him out rather than going for a world with an Iratus nest to attempt to save himself. Especially, as that had been what was necessary for him to survive, and John had actually proven once again as good as his word by sending Todd to the world as he had promised he would. Lorne chuckled as he handed over the clue with a, "The general is having his fun I see. Have you gotten the point of the hints yet, or why he's doing this thing? A little hint, ask yourself what happened a year ago today."

Todd raised an eyebrow at this. He knew it was exactly one year since they had bonded. He just wasn't entirely certain to the significance of it. It was hardly as if they would be entering their next mating cycle before another four years occurred. He read this clue and sighed, it read, 'The next clue is with the person who invented the wormhole drive that allowed us to save Earth after your warned us of the mutiny on your hives.' Now he knew why Keller had pointedly informed him that she would be in the main mess hall with Rodney. He also knew that at the point of the events required to save Earth that he had actively chosen John over the Wraith.

Todd noticed an obvious drop in volume of the mess hall when he entered. It took a few moments of scanning the mess hall to locate Rodney with Jennifer and William. He went to the table and took the clue when Rodney held it up, "I do not know why he felt the need to send me to see every member of your family." Todd commented.

"It's more that we were involved in too many of your interactions," Rodney countered. "I think John had to pick and choose who would be for which clue. Well, go on, your husband is waiting."

Todd noticed that the mess was mostly silent as he read the clue. It was almost as if everyone else seemed to understand what was going on, or at least all the humans did. The other Wraithkin looked as confused by the whole thing as Todd felt. This clue was, 'The next clue is where I introduced you to my daughter.' Todd now understood that that moment had been significant to John. Even if John hadn't fully admitted it to himself, he had made the point of introducing Rikki to Todd as if their interactions were nothing to hide or be ashamed of, though many others would have disagreed. This was especially so because it had been before Todd had received the second and more successful iteration of the retrovirus.

Todd sighed at the reminder before going down to the cells where he had been held after his former hive's failed attack on Earth. Waiting there was Jinto, who handed him the next clue to him before departing. This one read, 'The next clue is where you basically treated me to a very tantalizing strip tease just after receiving the successful retrovirus treatment.' Todd couldn't help but smile at the reminder of his little test of John's interest in him to find that John most certainly was. It had been his first real spark of hope that he had a chance. He immediately went to where his and John's rooms used to be. Wex was waiting for him there and handed off this clue and gave him a nod before departing. Todd raised an eyebrow as he read, 'Your prize resides where you rest your head to sleep.' Todd huffed in annoyance to realize that John had forced him to traverse the city several times only to learn that his final destination was their suite of rooms.

Todd had to wonder at the purpose of exercise as he got into the transporter and exited near his rooms. He shook his head with the realization that Teyla and William had both been right next to his destination without his realizing it. When he entered their suite, Todd froze, however. The main room was oddly lit by candles. The smaller dinner table had a cloth on it and was set for two, though there wasn't any food on it yet, with more candles on the table, though these weren't lit. Todd tilted his head as he inhaled, taking in the scent of what was likely dinner, which John brought out of the kitchen area and pouted, "Damn, you were faster than I thought you'd be. I thought some of those people would be harder to find and I would have a few more minutes. Did they make it easy for you to find them?"

"As Mr. Woolsey was in his office, Col. Lorne was in the control room, and Jennifer informed me of where Rodney would be when I collected her clue and it appeared she had stayed in one location to ensure that I didn't need to track her down, yes, they made it easy to find them. What is all this?" Todd asked. He wasn't certain to as the purpose of the setting.

"Well, since I knew that Wraith and Wraithkin don't do things like celebrate anniversaries, I decided to take advantage of that and surprise you. This is a romantic anniversary dinner, prepared by me, for us to share. I've also arranged for Teyla and Kannan to watch Fianna for the night," John gave him a suggestive eyebrow waggle with the statement before continuing. "You see, us humans, we have a habit of celebrating happy moments in our lives, not just memorializing the sad ones, like you saw at the memorial service. As such, for anniversaries and birthdays, couples will go through the process of making romantic gestures. Don't worry, I knew you didn't know, so I don't expect anything from you. This was just me taking the time to indulge in my romantic side, since I don't get the opportunity to do it often enough."

Todd had entered and listened to the door seal behind him as John gave his explanation. John placed the platter with roasted sweet potatoes, green beans, and a carved mammoth roast on the table between the two settings. Todd felt his mouth water at what was undoubtedly his favorite meal. He felt warmth welling up in him as he let John guide him over to the table and hold out the chair for Todd to take a seat in. He then lit the candles at the table.

"So, you mean to tell me that this is a tradition among humans that you didn't feel necessary to inform me of?" Todd was more curious at it not being mentioned before now than annoyed.

John sat in his seat, "Obviously I wasn't planning on hiding it from you, given that I've prepared this loving dinner on top of sending you on a trip down memory lane. I just took advantage of your lack of information to surprise you." John gave him a love filled smile as he served out the food.

Todd couldn't resist smiling back, "I was rather baffled by your scavenger hunt. Is this intended to be the prize? A romantic dinner and night with you?"

John chuckled, "No, your prize is exactly where the last clue says it is, 'Where you rest your head to sleep'. The prize is obviously on your pillow. But it can wait. First dinner. I'm sure you worked up an appetite, even if the others made things easy for you."

Todd conceded to that point given that he had been hungry even before the start of the scavenger hunt. Dinner conversation was a bit of a quiz from John on how the others distracted Todd while John set up the scavenger hunt and prepared their quarters for the dinner and after. He also admitted that Teyla had instructions to collect Fianna after Todd had gotten his clue from her so that Todd wouldn't be tipped off early by Fianna being with Teyla. When they finished eating, John put everything in the sink, put out the candles at the table and around the main area of the suite.

Only then did he allow Todd into their bedroom to see the guitar on Todd's pillow. It was John's preferred guitar for when they were alone, and John played for him. John moved over to the bed and grabbed the guitar before sitting on the bed, cross-legged and acquired a light blush, "Okay, so this is part one of my anniversary present to you. Since you keep requesting to hear a song that _I've _written, I wrote a song… _for you."_ The blush deepened.

Todd felt a welling of excitement at the idea as he stripped off his shirt and pants, intending on being comfortable, and to expedite his intended reward for John after the fact. John gave him another eyebrow waggle and smiled again before he began gently plucking at the strings.

"_If I could find assurance, to leave you behind, I know my better half would fade. And all of my doubt, is a staircase for you, opened out of this maze, the first step is the one you believe in, the second one might be profound."_

The rhythm and beat of the strumming picked up as John began the next part,_ "I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm, don't worry, I'll keep you warm. I'll follow you down, while we're passing through space, I don't care if we fall from grace, I'll follow you down._

"_You can have the money and the world, the angels and the pearls, even trademark the color blue. Just like the tower we never built, in the shadow of all the guilt, when the other hand was pointed at you. Yeah, the first step is the one you believe in and the second one might be profound._

"_I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm, don't worry, I'll keep you warm. I'll follow you down, while we're passing through space, I don't care if we fall from grace, I'll follow you down to where forever lies. Without a doubt I'm on your side, there is nowhere else I would rather be. I'm not about to compromise, give you up to say goodbye, I've got you through the deep, I'll keep you close to me._

There was a bit of guitar that separated the final section of the song before John continued singing.

"_I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm, don't worry, I'll keep you warm. I'll follow you down, while we are passing through space, I don't care if we fall from grace, I'll follow you._

"_If I could find assurance to leave you behind, I know my better would fade, I'll follow you down."_

John finished at looked at Todd for a response as he played the last note. Todd gently removed the guitar from John's hands and set it aside before kissing John fiercely. John reciprocated for a few moments before pulling away smiling brightly, "I said that was the first part of my present for you."

Todd didn't let John pull too far away, "Is the second part sex?" He questioned. Hearing a song written explicitly for him and one that proclaimed John's commitment to him had him rather amorous.

John chuckled deeply, "That can come afterwards. This is… well this is something that I've technically been remiss in not making sure we had before this." With those words, he pulled out a box from under the pillow and handed it to Todd.

Todd reluctantly allowed John to proceed with this gift, and indulged him by opening the box, only to freeze for a second time. In the box was a ring and a cor vinculum hair piece. Todd ignored the ring and pulled out the hair piece, "I… I had not known you knew what these were." He admitted softly.

"Bitterwind explained them when I asked about the significance of Fianna's hair piece and the ones that others wore. I figured it was a fitting anniversary gift, even if it's technically a year late," John smiled softly. "The ring is for me to wear since humans have wedding bands, you guys don't have something for sires to wear, and I feel a little weird not wearing some symbol of us being married. Something to say that I'm yours just like you're mine. I know that it isn't necessary since basically the entire galaxy knows we're married, but I still wanted the tangible evidence, even if everyone knows we are married."

Todd swallowed thickly and finally looked at the ring and noticed that some of the symbols on the cor vinculum were on the ring. He didn't recognize the designs, however. He glanced at John who pulled the ring from the box with a smile, "This is what's called a Claddagh ring. It's an Irish ring that is used to signify romantic statis, and since my dad was Irish, it felt fitting. His and my mother's wedding rings were actually stylized claddagh rings as well. The hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty. The stone for my ring is intended to match your eye color, just like the stone in your hair piece matches mine. Oh, and the tree above the claddagh on your hair piece is the tree of life, which is pretty self-explanatory. This knot below it is the Celtic Spiral Knot which stands for eternal life, which I think is pretty fitting for us. This knot is the Celtic Love Knot, which symbolizes lovers. Finally, these bands are sailor's knots, which are supposed to be a means of remembering loved ones during long journeys. That's also the band for my ring." John explained.

Todd kissed John again before shifting and handing the cor vinculum to John to place in his hair. John pulled back the top half of his hair as was proper before carefully slipping the hair piece on and clicking it into place. Once the piece was in, Todd faced John again and took the ring when offered it. John silently pointed to the finger Todd needed to put it on and then corrected it's direction before letting him slide it on his finger.

"The direction it's worn means different things. If you'd put it on the other way, it would have meant engaged, not married," John explained before pulling Todd in for a deeper kiss.

This time, there was no pulling back, except to remove John's clothing and what remained of Todd's. John was assertive and appeared determined to take his time with their love making, as it was a rare moment when they didn't feel rushed, with Fianna to care for. Tonight, though, John took the time to ensure it was entirely about the two of them. When they were both finished and sated, Todd felt a little foolish and relieved to realize that John had likely been blocking him out purely to preserve the 'surprise' and not for personal mental space.

**AN: Yes, this chapter was pure fluff. It was also utterly unavoidable. John Sheppard always struck me as a romantic who, when he found the one, would be all in. So of course, he would make the first anniversary special, especially given that there hadn't been an actual wedding. Also, the song is I'll Follow You by Shinedown, it came out in 2011, so it wasn't pre-Earth's destruction, but sort of from the right time frame for music styles.**


	29. Chapter 29

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: A new perspective because, thanks to a previous review, I have decided I wanted to bring Eli into the plot. I could just feel his potential wasting away otherwise. Plus, this will be plot advancing in a way. **

Chapter 29: The Intern

Eli Wallace waited while the rest of the class filed out. He had, once upon a time, before the destruction of Earth, been an MIT dropout. He had lost his love of science in college because it had been so… formulaic. Then, Earth was gone, he and his mother had survived by pure chance, being in a grocery store when they picked that one in particular for supplies and picked up the people inside as well. Eli and his mother knew exactly how close things had gotten for them. Their trip to Atlantis hadn't been made through the stargate, but rather on the Hammond as they were the last of those evacuated when Earth was destroyed, all they knew was one moment the Earth was under bombardment, everyone crammed into the store panicking and the next the were in the hold of a ship being told to keep still. Some weird light thing happened that made everyone cold and they were told to standby while they were beamed to the Lost City of Atlantis where they would be taken care of.

Suddenly, science was interesting again, now that he knew that space travel was more than sending astronauts to the moon or International space station. Eli had practically drooled at the idea of wormholes being used on the regular and people fighting aliens to protect the planet. Obviously, the ones fighting had deemed it an unwinnable fight if they grabbed as many people as possible and got the hell out. So, when they went through and asked everyone for their information, Eli declared that he had been a MIT student taking a semester break. It technically wasn't even a lie, since he had actually put in for the break to help his mother out. He just hadn't actually planned on going back, not that the school or his mother had known that at the time. They had made Eli take all sorts of tests when they started sorting out the educational system for the college students. He then was apparently deemed worthy of Bachelors of Science in Mathematics, Engineering, and Physics based on the results of the tests he'd taken.

Things worked a bit differently here, as it turned out, since he was just _given _the choice of continuing with a graduate program or working as a lowly lab assistant's assistant. Eli had, obviously, gone for the graduate program, which was how he was sitting in Dr. Rush's Introduction to Ancient Technologies class a full year after Earth's fall. Three months ago, Dr. Rush had announced that the first two people who could solve one of two equations would get the holy grail of all Internships with Dr. Rebecca Sheppard, the fourteen-year-old-closest-thing-they-had-to-an-living-Ancient, savant of all things hard science and Ancient. The announcement had, of course, launched a bitter competition among everyone in the Sciences graduate and post graduate programs related to the hard sciences. Rumors and accusations of hacking were rampant.

Eli hadn't trusted anything connected to the network that Atlantis ran on. In the extremely competitive environment of the new evolution that science had taken since Earth's destruction, hacking when it came to something so coveted as an _internship with the Dr. Rebecca Sheppard _was to be expected. So, Eli had done all his work on the two equations in a notebook that he kept on him at all times. He had opted to work on both equations, since he figured that it doubled his chances, if he could figure them out before anyone else, and he was a genuine genius, unlike most of the other graduate and post-graduate students.

He and his mother had actually been flagged as ATA positive, though, as a science graduate student and a nurse, they weren't very high up the list for training on Puddle Jumpers. They had even agreed to participate in Dr. Beckett's Genome project, to see if the man could trace who their Ancient ancestor was and how 'Ancient' they were. Eli figured his genes were probably on the more rather than less category, even if they hadn't gotten their results back yet, if he was a genius. Eli was also smart enough to know better than to mentione that he thought he had solved _both _equations to anyone other than Dr. Rush. If he did, he very well could end up the first murder since Cole's failed mutiny nine months ago. No, the information couldn't be known until _after _he got the internship. He figured he would be relatively safe then.

Once the last of his classmates were cleared from the room, Eli grabbed the notebook out of his bag and then shouldered the bag before going to the front of the class where Dr. Rush was packing up his things, this class being the last one of the day. Rush looked up at him and gave him a raised eyebrow. Eli knew that Rush liked, or at least tolerated, him more than most of his peers because Eli was the top of this and every other class that he was in without being an ass or arrogant about it.

"Eli, what can I do for you? You usually don't need assistance in understanding the topics we cover in class," Rush gave him a friendly enough smile.

Eli held out the notebook, "I think I figured out the equations for Dr. Sheppard's internship." Eli kept his voice low enough that only Rush would hear him.

Rush looked surprised before his expression turned thoughtful as he took the notebook, "Didn't keep it on a computer, that's smart. There has been rampant hacking of the students who claim they are close to solving one. I didn't even know you were attempting it." Rush opened the notebook to look at the work that covered both pages.

"I didn't want to advertise it and make myself a target," Eli admitted easily.

"Clever. Come into my office, I'll want to write this out on a larger board to check it out and we don't want anyone looking in to steal it if you do have a good equation," Rush responded quietly as well. He led Eli from the lecture hall and towards where the professors kept their offices. "I've been working on these in my spare time as well, to be honest. I know that if I see the completed thing, I could figure out what it was for, but since Dr. Sheppard didn't grace me with the answer to the equations I will only be able to give you an answer of it being a possible solution. I'm assuming you have an idea of what the equation you solved is for?"

Eli followed Rush into his office and watched as the man put in the code to lock the door, "The first one appears to be a calculation for a hybridized Wraith/Goa'uld flight system and the second is an equation to stabilize a smaller mini ZPM than the one we have, though I'm not entirely certain I got the second one right. I just hedged my bets by going for both of them." Eli explained.

Rush raised an eyebrow at that, "You think you solved both of them?" He asked as he grabbed a dry erase marker and started copying Eli's first finished equation onto one of the large white boards.

"I think so. Like I said, the second one I'm not as certain about. It does make sense that Dr. Sheppard would have a ZPM equation as one of the two equations since she's literally the one who figured out how the Ancients make them work," Eli settled onto a chair as he watched Rush write out the one on the flight system out on the board.

When Rush finished, he seemed to read through it several times before letting off a half chuckle, "Well, I'll be damned, I do believe you're right. This looks like the completed equation for a flight system, not sure about the Wraith or Goa'uld part, but then I specialize in Ancient technology only. How did you figure that part out?"

"I'm also taking the Introduction to the Goa'uld technology that the Tok'ra Narmer teaches and I've been reading pretty much every paper Dr. Sheppard, Dr. McKay, Todd Sheppard, Dr. Richards, and Col. Carter have made public for the past year. If there was an introduction to Wraith Technology, I would be taking that too, but there isn't so that's the best I can do to study it until there's a class for it," Eli shrugged.

Rush nodded, "Well, I think you just might have the internship, but you will have to submit it to Dr. Sheppard herself. Let me check the second one and see if you can really impress her." He excitedly wrote out the other equation and then looked it over several times again.

Eli felt his leg bouncing impatiently until Rush waved his and back and forth in a so-so sign, "I can't say for certain with this one. It looks right to me, but then I'm really not at Dr. Sheppard's level when it comes to these kinds of things. I spend most of my time studying Ancient technology, not recreating it, creating things comparable with it or building on what they created to make something more. I'd say the first one has a good shot though. Let's go see Dr. Sheppard and see what she thinks."

Eli was out of his seat and had his bag on his shoulder in a flash. Rush quickly erased the equation from the board before unlocking the room. The door was resealed once they were out of the room. Eli followed Dr. Rush to the transporter which took them to a really remote part of the city, though, by all accounts, Dr. Sheppard's lab had been put in a remote part of the city for some security reasons. Eli froze at the blank wall when the came to a dead end. That was until Dr. Rush gestured for him to get close, "Follow directly after me and do not hesitate."

Eli nodded uncertainly as, at a quick pace, Dr. Rush tapped the three lights along the wall and headed straight for the wall only to pass through it. Eli, thankfully, had followed the instructions and found himself in a large lab with music blasting full volume. He watched as Rush went over to the young teenaged girl that everyone knew the face of and talked to her, though his words were indecipherable to Eli over the volume of the music.

Dr. Sheppard hit a few keys on her computer and the music volume lowered significantly. She walked over to a blank white board with the Eli's notebook, which Rush had handed to her. As she started the process that Rush had already gone through, she spoke to him, "So, Eli, you think you solved Seb's equation?"

"Seb's? I didn't know that it was someone else's equation…" Eli felt uncomfortable as he watched a tall guy, one of the ones who was always with Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Richards, supposedly one of Dr. McKay's interns, though no one ever saw him or the other two who were currently in the room working in Dr. McKay's labs.

"Yeah, he was struggling to figure out how to combine the Wraith and Goa'uld flight systems for his new gate capable ship designs," Dr. Sheppard responded while she and the man that Eli had to guess was 'Seb' read through the equation. "I figured it couldn't hurt to see if someone who was a little more distanced from it could figure it out."

"I think this could actually work. Let me just plug it into my simulator," 'Seb' announced as he grabbed the notebook and brought it over to his computer.

"You put an equation you didn't have the answer to as one of the two to determine if a person was worthy of an internship with you?" Rush sounded genuinely irritated.

"Of course, I did. If I had the answer to an equation, that means it would have been out in the ether, something that those who wanted to cheat could have just hacked their way into finding. This kills two birds with one stone. It gives me an intern that's actually capable of thinking and formulating answers for himself, as opposed to someone who can parrot already solved problems back at me without an original thought in his head and it also resolves one of our problems. Seb, how's it look?"

Seb typed away before pulling back and watching something for a moment before smiling, "In theory, it could work. I still have to test it in making the conversions work, but if it does, that's a major issue of my design resolved. This is great, I thought it was going to take me another few months to figure it out."

"So… does that mean I get the internship?" Eli asked hopefully.

Dr. Sheppard smiled, "Yep. Well, Rush, I didn't think you actually had any students who could beat us to solving it, but… I guess I'll have to give you another equation to replace that one, since it's solved. Wouldn't want anyone cheating for that second internship position, now would we?"

"Both equations actually, though you haven't checked the second one yet," Rush nodded towards the notebook. "Granted, that one, I'm not entirely certain he got right, nor is Eli, but you may as well check it too."

Dr. Sheppard raised both her eyebrows towards Eli at this before she retrieved the notebook from Seb before flipping to the other equation. She wiped the white board of the first equation and wrote out the second one, though this time it was much more carefully. When she finished, she pulled over another board, flipped it over to reveal the same equation, though incomplete and slightly flawed, then she began comparing them, clearly checking it over thoroughly.

"Well, color me shocked, you figured out my energy problem. You figured it out before Todd, or I did. Damn, now you are officially mine. Rush, you'll have to send me his schedule, or better yet, you can just work here when he isn't in classes," Dr. Sheppard declared.

Rush looked genuinely happy for Eli, "Well, at least I don't need to find an internship for you now, Eli. We'll have a meeting next week to assess how ahead of your classmates you are and try to get your classes a little better situated for you, though I suspect that you'll be learning more from Dr. Sheppard and in published papers than you will in classes. I'll just leave you lot to get acquainted. I do have papers that need to be graded and office hours."

With that, Rush tapped on a button on the wall to the left of where they had entered and disappeared back through the door/wall. Eli suddenly felt very uncomfortable, "Um… can I just say that I'm really honored to have this opportunity, Dr. Sheppard? Your work has pretty much saved the lives of everyone living here and your stepfather's work has much more directly saved my mother's life, so you're pretty much my hero."

Dr. Sheppard chuckled, "First off, if you are going to be my intern, everyone who knows me calls me Rikki, so call me Rikki. Dr. Sheppard is… well actually both of my parents have doctorates. Mom's are in Linguistics and Political Sciences and Dad's got his in Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Astrophysics. Also, if the Wraith had PhDs, Todd would have every single one they gave for like all the scientific fields, but they don't so he's more an honorary thing, though an unofficial one. Secondly, do not go all hero worship on me. As evidenced by the fact that you solved an equation that I have been having a mental block on for _months _and getting next to no headway on, so obviously I'm not infallible. Don't think I hold all the secrets of the universe in my brain, I'm not ascended. Thirdly, I couldn't actually hear when Dr. Rush told me your name, due to the volume of the music, so what exactly is your name?"

"Eli… Eli Wallace," Eli answered a little flustered.

"Right, okay, well, the giant over there is my partner in all things mad science Dr. Tom Richards, you can just call him Tom. The man you just helped jump his work ahead by months is Sebastian Black, technically Rodney's intern, but he's really mine as well as a friend. The idiot in the corner ignoring us is Jefferey Collins and that lovely lady over there is Amelia Wilkes, also both technically Rodney's interns but not really. Don't go formal on us, do as we say, and you'll be fine. Oh, and if Sam or Rodney pop in, you definitely should call them Col. Carter and Dr. McKay unless they invite you to do otherwise," Rikki instructed him.

Eli nodded, processing the casual nature at which his new advisor was. Rikki was scanning the room for a moment before sighing, "We'll need to get a new desk in here for you but for now you can work at my work bench when I'm not using it and my desk when I need the bench. How much do you know about Ancient, Wraith, Goa'uld, and Asgard technology?"

"I've read every paper that you, Col. Carter, Dr. McKay, Todd Sheppard, and Dr. Richards… I mean Tom?... Tom have published since Earth's destruction and before too, anything made available really. Plus, I'm in Dr. Rush's Introduction to Ancient Technology, and Narmer's Introduction to Goa'uld Technology. I'm the top of both classes," Eli offered.

Rikki nodded, "That explains how you figured out the calculations for Seb's project then. That's a decent foundation. Hm… I didn't actually expect anyone to figure either of the equations out, so I didn't come up with a game plan for an intern program. I guess I can just start you off on Sam's analysis of Goa'uld technology and it's development. Do you have your tablet with you? I'm assuming you know this since you are in the Intro to Goa'uld Tech, but all the information on the subject matter Goa'uld technology is strictly regulated, so no sharing this if you want to keep the internship… and to get a doctorate one day."

Eli nodded in understanding, pulling his tablet from his pack before handing it over to her. Rikki took it and connected it to her computer before downloading what Eli figured was in-depth work on Goa'uld technology that went well beyond what Narmer was teaching in his introductory classes. When she finished, Rikki grabbed his notebook and turned to a fresh page, "I'm writing down my e-mail address. I want you to e-mail me your class schedule and I'll figure out something for you to actually work on or study once you finish with that analysis. For now, just assume that your free time is mine, starting tomorrow. Go find your friends and celebrate your triumph over my challenge. Also, let Rush know that I'll have two new equations for him sometime this week. Oh, and before you leave, you do know how to get into this lab right?"

"Dr. Rush did some weird thing with the lights in the hall?" Eli wasn't certain, but he figured that was how the man got them in.

"Just tap them as you approach the wall in rapid succession. It will temporarily turn the wall intangible. We have these little devices that we can press to do the same thing," Rikki paused to hold up a little remote thing. "It can also ensure that the wall doesn't turn intangible, as a sort of lock on the wall when we aren't here. We'll make sure you get one too, but just as a precaution, if a scientist doesn't know where this lab is, don't tell them. What I'm working on here is highly sensitive, never mind some of the things that the previous owner of this lab, Janus, researched and developed. I don't need the likes of Tunney barging in here and rifling through our stuff looking for Janus's time travel research."

"Time travel?" Eli couldn't help asking.

"There is more than one way to do it, but yes, Dr. Tunney is a pain in my ass and don't trust him for anything. He wants the research so he can change Earth's fate, even though it would literally have been impossible to take out thousands of ships with the tiny fleet we had at the time. Hell, we're still desperately building our fleet of space ships up as much as possible to stand any sort of chance against the Naari, but Tunney is convinced that if he could just go back ten years, it would buy us the time for the solutions we need," Rikki shook her head. "So, yeah, this lab's location is not to be shared out. Oh yeah, do you have the ATA gene?"

"Yeah, my mother and I both tested as positive, though I was listed as a 'strong user' whereas my mother was a moderate gene," Eli confirmed.

Rikki nodded and tore out a page from his notebook and wrote something down, "Okay, um… before you go off and celebrate, take this note to Dr. Beckett in the main infirmary. It's going to tell him to up your position on his analysis list to immediate priority. I need to know how high your DNA percentage is before I can let you go playing with the fun-fun stuff. Some of what we work with is pretty volatile and how Ancient you are can significantly impact how good you are at handling it."

Eli nodded again, a thrum of excitement going through his system at the idea of getting to work hands on with Ancient technology as he took the note as well as his notebook back, "Right, I'll just go do that now."

"Right, that button to the side will give you thirty seconds to pass through the wall before it turns solid again. There's no standing in doorways for this lab. It's either in or out. Don't hesitate when you come back tomorrow after your classes. Just hold a hand out in front of you, just in case none of us are in the lab," With that, she waved Eli off, returning to her desk and cranking the music back up, though not as high as it had been before.

Eli looked down at his notebook and then followed Rikki's instructions, and didn't it feel weird to be on first name basis with probably the smartest human, or near-human since she was more Alteran than human, in two galaxies that wasn't in ascended form. Eli took the transporter to the main infirmary and was thankful that his mother worked in this one. She was also receiving the nanite treatment for her HIV so, she actually knew the people here. She saw him and smiled brightly, "Eli, what are you doing here?"

All at once, his excitement overflowed, "I got the internship, Mom. I'm Dr. Sheppard… no, Rikki's intern. She insisted I call her Rikki. Both my equations were good!"

Marian Wallace's smile brightened further, "Oh, honey! That's wonderful! See, I knew you could do it. Now, I have another hour before I can get off…"

"Ah, actually, I'm supposed to bring this note to Dr. Beckett. Rikki said that she needed to know how strong my ATA gene is before I can work with some of the equipment and stuff," Eli held up the note.

"Oh! Of course. We haven't gotten our results back yet. I'll go get Dr. Beckett for you, sweetie," His mother immediately turned and went to find the doctor in question. Eli knew the guy was one of the bigwigs, probably only second or third to Dr. Keller in the medical department. Eli had met him a few times, since his mother worked with him on occasion, though she was mostly assigned to assist doctors who didn't have the gene, since she had the gene at a decent strength.

The Scotsman smiled brightly at Eli as he arrived with Marian's return, "So, you need your test results bumped up for your internship?" He accepted the note from Rikki.

"I just got the internship with Rikki. She said it was necessary before I could work with the Ancient tech, I'm assuming so accidents don't happen," Eli admitted.

"Aye, us hybrids are a bit of a mixed lot on our control over the gene. The likes of Rikki and John and those who are half Alteran or more have an easy time of it. It's all like they were born to use it. I'm at 39% myself and it can get a wee-bit wonky sometimes. With training it can run as smoothly as those who have more, but knowing the percentage can help immensely in knowing how much training and work it will take to get it to work for you easily," Beckett assured him, and gestured for Eli and his mother to follow him. "Now, I've had all the DNA samples of those who are ATA positive in my system for some time, I just haven't been able to get through them in more than a few at a time, here or there. I also had to prioritize in terms of who were potential Jumper pilots, but a single sample shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes, if you can wait. It's more running the comparison of your DNA against the data base of known Ancients than it is anything else."

Eli shrugged, "I don't have anywhere better to be. Mom's not off for another hour and I'm afraid if any of my friends find out that I got the internship early they might try strangling me.

Beckett chuckled and shook his head as he stopped at a computer and started typing, "I heard that the competition for internship for Rikki was fierce. Was it only one position?"

"No, there's a second internship available, but I'm the only one to figure out the equations and since I got both of them, Rikki's setting new equations for the second internship," Eli shrugged. "I think it's more that everyone will have to start over rather than taking the only position."

Beckett chuckled again, "Aye, that would be mighty frustrating. Alright, well, I've set it to run your DNA, if you want to take a seat over there, I do have some other paperwork to do while I wait for it to run."

Eli nodded and took the seat across from Dr. Beckett and pulled out his tablet. He figured he might as well get started on his assigned reading. The title page of the paper stated that it was a 'controlled document with classified information' as well as that it had been reviewed and confirmed as accurate as possible by Tok'ra standards. Narmer was on the list of Tok'ra to confirm it's accuracy. Eli wasn't all that surprised about the sub-header. He had been required to get a psych eval just to take Intro to Goa'uld Technology, as had everyone else in the class. Apparently, there was a common belief that Goa'uld tech, while now outdated in many of its uses, was still extremely dangerous especially if in the hands of psychopaths. The eval hadn't been fun, as it took several sessions, but in Eli's opinion, it was worth it considering he had now gotten the best internship in the city.

He moved on to the introduction, which included an overview of Col. Carter's extensive work with analyzing Goa'uld tech as well as her cooperative work with the Tok'ra and their much more, mostly, benign and subtle technology. Eli had been just about halfway through the introduction when Dr. Beckett made a noise of surprise.

He glanced up at the doctor and saw a mixture of shock and exasperation, "Eli, what can you tell me about your father?"

"Well, he _was_ a great dad right up until Mom got infected with HIV, or at least as far as I can remember. He was always there for Mom and me at least. He was a scientist, a genius astrophysicist, Mom always attributed my brains to him. Then, he bailed on us completely when Mom got HIV, just left a note and vanished off the face of the planet. Why?" Eli had a whole host of mixed feelings with regards to his father.

"Why don't we take this into a private room. I should also get your mother," Beckett hit several keys and seemed to transfer Eli's information, whatever it said, to a tablet.

Eli shoved his tablet back in his bag and followed Beckett as he collected Eli's mom and then into a private room. Beckett looked at them both with sympathy, "I'm sorry if this seems a bit strange, but we're trying to limit the spread of information on those who have a… higher concentration of Alteran genetics. With the cult that is present in the city, we don't want to _add _to their fervor. Marian, I realize this might be upsetting, but I need you to confirm if this man is your husband, or perhaps ex-husband." He had a single image of Eli's father, though in weird looking clothing.

"Uh… um… yes… how did you… where…." Marian looked unsettled, and Eli couldn't help feeling unsettled as well.

"His name is Janus, he was a known member of Ata, that's General Sheppard's mother, he was a known and leading member of her group. Eli presents as having 73% Alteran DNA. The other link is weaker, but do you recognize this man?" Beckett switched to a second picture.

The guy didn't look particularly familiar to Eli, his mother tilted her head for a moment though and then nodded, "I think I remember seeing pictures of him in only family photos, of my maternal grandmother's if I recall correctly, he was her husband, my mother's father. I can't say for certain though, I hadn't looked at the one photo there was of him even years before Earth's destruction. The pictures would have been destroyed then. I don't even remember his name."

"Well that just about accounts for the remaining 23% that didn't come from Janus. His name is listed as Yar Torak. If he was your maternal grandfather, then I suspect Eli got every bit or most of the Alteran DNA that you had. I'm still going to run your DNA next, and I'll let you know. How have you been with handling Ancient technology?" Beckett asked sincerely.

"Well, I struggled a bit at first, but it's become easier as time's gone on. I'm listed as a moderate user," Marian admitted.

"That's typical for those of us who have roughly a quarter of our DNA Alteran. The good news is that Eli, you should have an incredibly easy time of using any Ancient technology. It should be as if you were born to it because you were. You do have to be a bit cautious though, lad. The technology being so easy to handle also means that you can activate it with just a touch or even just being in a room for some things. I'll forward your results to Dr. Sheppard so that she knows your aptitude, but I also have to forward your results to the Council. You are literally only the second person to have more than half your DNA be Alteran. The Council will also definitely want to know that Janus was among those who had children. Our previous knowledge of him didn't indicate that he was someone who would behave in such a manner, though I suppose there might have been extenuating circumstances. You say he just vanished when Marian got infected with HIV? It may not have been as voluntary as you think, if he had stuck with you up until that point," Beckett explained.

"What makes you think that?" Marian asked, a painful amount of hope in her voice. Eli knew that his mother had never gotten over his dad, she'd never gotten the closure for it. Then again, neither had Eli. Even he felt a spring of hope that his father hadn't just completely abandoned them for no reason.

"Well, the Ascended Ancients have a very strict set of rules, one of which is no direct interference. Now, if Janus had fully resumed full corporeal form, with his memories intact, they likely wouldn't have done anything as long as he didn't significantly and abnormally advance our technological development. That being said, if he used an ascended or near-ascension power, like healing, or even planned to and the '_Others'_ knew of it, then it's entirely possible, even probable that they would have stopped him. Janus was a known rule breaker so it's even probable that they would have monitored his activity closely," Beckett informed them.

Eli, still reeling from the knowledge that he was mostly not human, and his father was an alien, slumped down into a chair while his mother let out a sob of what he suspected was relief. He knew that his mother had always struggled with her husband just bailing on her when she needed him most. Eli had struggled with it even more because his dad had never been like most of his classmates' dads. The man he had known as James Wallace had been committed to a loving marriage and had, despite having a demanding career, always made time for Eli. When Eli's pet hamster had been accidently killed by his father when he was a kid, because Eli had left the cage door open, his father had made every attempt to reassure him and convince Eli that it wasn't his fault. Both he and his mother had been devastated when his father had just vanished into the ether with nothing more than a heartbreakingly brief and seemingly heartless note.

Eli accepted it when his mother wrapped herself around him in a hug, fighting to process the truth of his reality, "So… what does this all mean exactly?" Eli finally asked.

"Well, with regards to your internship, it should have no impact, beyond you having a better natural control over what you do with ancient technology than most of us can acquire in years of practice. In general, Col. Carter and the Councilor for Education, Abigail Lorne will likely be keeping a much closer eye on your education and the development of your understanding of various technologies. I will also be switching your primary care physician to me. While there aren't many physical differences, there are enough that you need a doctor who specializes in Alteran DNA. You should also be aware that with Gen. O'Neill's recent development of Telekinesis and Abigail Lorne's even more recent development of healing abilities, every person in the city with 50% or higher, besides yourself, has gained near ascension abilities so we will have to monitor for that as well," Beckett was as sympathetic as a person could get.

Though, Eli supposed the man would be, given that he was a quarter Alteran as well. He just nodded slowly rather than giving a verbal response. The idea of that was actually a little scary. He knew the list of powers that had been developed. Something like healing didn't sound too bad, but Gen. Sheppard's mother could see _thousands of years _into the future, Gen. Sheppard had mind powers so strong that the Wraithkin followed him with absolute loyalty, his ex-wife Dr. Nancy Sheppard had killed her ex with her telekinesis in self-defense, and David Sheppard had about as close as one could get to friggin force lightning. Eli shuddered a bit at the idea. He would cross his fingers and hope that if he developed something, it would be healing. Healing would be good. You can't kill a person by healing them.

With that mental note he nodded slowly to himself, "Right. Um… Well, this kind of takes to celebration out getting that internship."

"Ah, lad, no need to let it get you down. You don't see Dr. Sheppard or any of the others let it get to them, do you?" Beckett tried to encourage him.

Eli looked at him skeptically, "You literally had to tell me this in private because the city has a cult of Ancient worshippers who will want to add me to their Jesus list, or whatever they call it, if they knew, Gen. Sheppard has his own personal military force, don't deny it, those Wraithkin would kill for him in a heartbeat, as would every Specialist he has command over. Dr. Nancy Sheppard, according to the rumors, turns down men on the daily. Dr. Rebecca Sheppard, my new thesis advisor has a literal fan club, I mean with a president and treasurer and the whole nine yards among the college students and I'm pretty sure there is one in the high school division too. Abigail Lorne and Gen. O'Neill were elected to the council, I'm half convinced, mostly on the merit of their genes. Oh, and there is a new musical movement because Dave Sheppard teaches piano. Existing is enough for people to get worked up about them, so forgive me if I am a little freaked out about being in that same boat."

"That's why it's being kept quiet, lad. No one will know you are anything other than a highly intelligent person who has an Alteran ancestor. Anything beyond that is none of their business. The only people who have the authority to know are the council members, me as your physician, and your thesis advisor," Beckett soothed.

Eli slumped down as his mother rubbed his shoulders, "I think today has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for you, sweetie. Why don't you head back to our suite and I'll get our food for us when I get out of work."

"You can leave early, Marian. It's a slow day and I think your son needs you a bit more than we do at the moment. I'll also send your updated medical file to your son's tablet," Beckett told her kindly.

Eli's mom smiled at the doctor and then coaxed Eli out of his seat and grabbed his bag for him as they left the infirmary. By the time they made it to their suite, Eli decided that it didn't matter. His dad was gone, one way or another, though the knowledge that he might not have gone willingly did cut out some of the bitterness towards James Wallace, or rather Janus… unknown last name. It then hit him that Rikki had said that the previous owner of her lab was Janus. He was going to be working in _his father's _former lab. He wondered briefly if the man had known, if Ata Roalbel had told him that his son would one day be working on gaining his doctorate in the same lab that he created.

Before he could ponder it too deeply, his mother returned with not only their dinners but what looked like some of the specialty desserts that could be purchased with credits. Eli realized his mother must have spent some of hers for the desserts, "Mom, you shouldn't have. You should have saved your credits for something you wanted."

"I did. I spent them on celebrating you getting the internship that you had been burning all your free time for the past two months on to get. I couldn't be prouder of you Eli," His mother said with a bright smile before she set their dinners down for them to dig into.

"You know that I'm going to be spends a bunch of my former free time working on my internship, right?" Eli pointed out as he dug into the meat loaf. He honestly liked the food in Pegasus better than he did the food from Earth. It just… tasted better in his opinion, more maybe he had a greater appreciation for it after everything that had been lost. Or maybe it was in his DNA to appreciate it more.

"Oh, honey, that isn't a surprise in the slightest. I knew that was going to happen, no matter what internship you got," Marian responded with a loving smile. "I'm just glad you're love of science is going to be nurtured in full now."

**AN: In case you couldn't figure out the timeline, it's been two months in-story time-wise since the last chapter. **


	30. Chapter 30

**I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, nor do I own any of its characters. I make no profit off this story excepting in my own personal pleasure of writing it. This is set AU after the end of Season Five of Stargate Atlantis. It completely disregards the Legacy book series, so please no flames that it's ignoring those. Also a few characters may go a bit OOC because I feel like it. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**AN: Trigger warning for this chapter. There will be implied attempted rape and mentions of rape, murder, cannibalism, eating people alive. Oh, and moderate levels of violence. This is your only warning. This story was rated M for a reason people.**

**AN: Also, Have a Very MERRY Christmas and a Blessed Yule! **

Chapter 30: Discord Returns

John headed to his daughter's lab, fully intending on dragging her and her friends from the lab for the weekly family dinner. He hit the button on the little device that Rikki had designed to destabilize the wall leading into the lab, rather than depend on the 'bop the lights' method of Janus or the machine that Rodney had made to destabilize it that was painfully obvious. He rolled his eyes at the volume that his daughter was play her music as he wound his way to her desk. She bopped her head as she tapped away at her keyboard. John just reached around her to lower the volume of Rikki's personal favorite of Breaking Benjamin.

Rikki startled at his sudden presence, but John wasn't shocked by that in the slightest, "Hey, you guys planning on making it to the family dinner? I'm only asking because Teyla sent me to get you all since you are like really late." John made a point of talking a little like a teenager to bug Rikki.

Rikki glanced at the time on her computer and huffed, "Damn, I didn't realize it was that late. Hey, Eli, you should probably head to the mess before it closes."

John turned to look where she was speaking and was surprised to realize he had missed the presence of a sixth person in the room. The teen or perhaps young adult's mind had blended so seamlessly into the 'science' mentality of the room that he hadn't noticed him at all until Rikki called out to him, "Hey there, we haven't met before." He greeted the young man.

"Yeah… I'm Eli Wallace, Rikki's intern," Eli responded a little awkwardly as he shoved his tablet into his bag.

"So, Rikki, did Rush blackmail you into taking an intern or did he actually manage to solve one of the equations for you?" John asked half joking, knowing full well that his daughter wouldn't be easy to blackmail.

"Actually, Eli solved _both _equations. That means your fancy new flying machine is one step closer to reality and I'm finally making real progress on the personal cloaking shields," Rikki responded as they all left the lab.

"Really? Well, I'm sure he'll be all sorts of useful to you then," John half teased. "My specialists are salivating at the idea of those shields, you know."

Rikki rolled her eyes, "I should also mention that the power equation means that the plasma knives will be getting a power upgrade too."

"Sweet," John commented with pleasure. "Now if only…"

He was interrupted by the beep of his comms, "_Sir, the Apollo just arrived back, heavily damaged and they're reporting possible Naari intruders on the ship."_

"Roger that, I'm currently already armed. Relay the information to Master Specialist Emmagan, Master Specialist Dex, Todd, and whoever is currently on duty and is geared up. You can have me beamed up immediately," John ordered into his earpiece to the Wraithkin who had reported in. He gave the teens an apologetic look just before the Apollo beamed him up to the bridge. "Status report."

"We have hull breeches on levels four and six, but not atmosphere venting. From the reports of your experience with the alternate reality Daedalus, we presumed that the Naari ships have created a hermetic seal with their ships before gaining entry and we sealed the bulkheads around the areas of the breeches. Since then, our sensors have indicated foreign life forms in those areas," Ellis answered immediately.

"Right, where in the ship are the breeches and what's the fastest route. When the others are ready, you can just beam them directly to where I am," John looked expectantly at the map.

The airman at the console brought the locations up, "This is the closest breech. The fastest path for you is to take the emergency shafts to the fourth level and then make a straight line for the breech."

"Right, thanks. Make sure to close the bulkheads behind me and whoever is with me just before we reach the currently sealed bulkheads. Once the ones behind us are sealed, you can open the one separating us from the sealed off areas. Anything else I need to know?"

"The breech on level four was straight into the hall to the engine room. The bulkhead to the engine room was sealed off, but they have been trying to get into it, and obviously there are personnel there. Quite a few, as it so happens," Ellis informed him.

"Right, as soon as the others are ready, immediately to my location," John ordered.

With that, he was running out of the bridge of the ship. He was familiar enough with the 304s that he managed to locate an emergency shaft that would got to Level Four in minutes and moved down the ladder rungs with as much speed as he could manage. Thankfully, it was only two levels, so it didn't take too long. Just after he came out of the shaft, Ronon, Teyla, and three Wraithkin, plus Todd were beamed into the hallway just ahead of him. The six of them fell in alongside John and kept their pace at a brisk jog that ate the distance but wouldn't immediately exhaust them before they reached their destination.

They passed through several open bulkheads and John noted that most of the doors to the individual rooms were all shut, and probably locked too. If the crew on this level hadn't evacuated, then they were safest sealing themselves into their rooms, labs, whatever they were. When he heard the sound of a bulkhead behind them sealing, it told John that they were getting close.

"_Sheppard, you might want to pick up the pace there. The intruders just breeched the bulkhead for the engine room and the people in there aren't armed with anything more than wrenches," _Ellis's voice rang out over the comms.

"Almost there. I see the bulkheads ahead, just unseal them for us," John ordered as they had to pause to wait for bulkhead doors to lift.

As soon as there was a reasonably big enough gap, the group of seven was ducking under the thing before it could finish rising. All of them had their sabers out and on so they were spread out a bit with John at the lead. John didn't register the thoughts of the first Naari that they encountered, the creature was more focused on gaping hole that led into the engine room. John was quick to cut him… or rather it in half as well as the Naari that was attempting to enter through the large hole in the bulkhead door. The screams being immitted from within the engine room had John yanking the dead one halfway in out of the way before scrambling through the slightly smoldering hole. It was only then that the first real thoughts of the Naari within slammed into him and he had to yank his mind back and lock it tight as he swiftly sliced through bodies the three Naari in the room. Two of them had had two of the occupants of the engine room pinned to the wall, while a third had knocking the only other visible engineer in the room to the ground. Judging by the thoughts he had gotten a brief glimpse of, he was all too aware of the intent of the Naari within the room, and likely the ones that had been attempting to enter.

Once he was certain that the three in front of him were dead, John opened his mind to ensure that there weren't any more present. Once he confirmed that they were gone, he eyed the two sobbing women, one of whom had her jumpsuit nearly torn in two and the other who was clutching a bloody shoulder, "Ellis, the Naari on level four have been neutralized. The engineers require medical assistance asap." He ordered into his comm before slipping back out of the engine room. He got an immediate confirmation that medical was on its way.

He glanced at the two Wraithkin specialists that he didn't know the names of off the top of his head, "Stay here and help these people until medical arrives. Keep your senses open just in case we missed one. The rest of us can deal with the level six breech."

The two of them nodded in understanding and entered the engine room as John led the way to the closest emergency shaft. He called into his comm, "Right, when we leave the shaft on level six, which direction are we going in?"

"_You'll be going to your left when you exit the shaft. The bulkhead shouldn't be far ahead of that one. There is only one bulkhead between the emergency shaft and the one containing the Naari. They are going to be just on the other side of the door trying to break out, so be prepared for that,"_ Ellis explained. "_We won't open that door until the one behind you is sealed, so you might have to wait a few minutes."_

"Roger that," John responded as he opened the emergency shaft. "Alright Ronon first. Also, I want to try capturing a few of them if we can. We need intel and they have presented us with a golden opportunity. Todd… Swordborne, as soon as we get within proximity, hit them as hard as you can mentally to stun them. Yes, their minds are… vile, but if we can stun them in advance, we should be able to get into their heads enough to get something out of them. Teyla, Ronon, you guys need to keep us from getting killed."

Ronon grunted in understanding and then began climbing down the shaft. John followed, with Teyla right behind him. Todd and Swordborne bringing up the rear. Teyla and Ronon flanked the sides of the bulkhead door while John, Todd, and Swordborne stood in the middle. All their sabers were set to stun. John took a deep breath, mentally bracing himself for the onslaught of the seemingly unguarded minds of the Naari. When he saw that the bulkhead was beginning to rise, he opened up his mind and immediately slammed it forward towards the Naari, ensuring that he was in complete control this time. Peripherally, he was aware of Todd, Swordborne, and Teyla doing the same, though Teyla wasn't actually invading any of the six minds.

John seized at three of the minds, pulling any information, no matter how unpleasant from them. He couldn't have been within the minds for more than ten seconds before they seemed to faulter and he yanked himself out before the Naari could drag him into unconsciousness with them. There were a serious of thuds that could be heard as the bulkhead door continued to rise. John pushed down the nausea from the majority of the information he had pulled from the three minds he had invaded. However, when they could finally pass under the door, it was to find all six of the Naari laying, collapsed on the floor. John waved for Ronon and Swordborne to check them. Their method of checking was poking them with their sabers, still set to stun. When that got no reactions. John tilted his head.

"I don't remember them being this easy to take down on the alternate reality Daedalus," John pointed out. He reached out with his mind at all six and found there was nothing there. Not even the emptiness found in the carriers that had been victimized on the breeding colonies. "What the hell… They're dead? How?"

Todd shook his head, "The two that I entered, their minds seemed to faulter rather quickly. It is almost as if they have no defenses to mental intrusions."

John considered that for a moment. It felt almost anticlimactic to have it be this easy, "Ellis, I need you to double check something for me. Scan the section we're in. The one the Naari are supposed to have penetrated. What do you get back?"

"_We're only picking up the life signs of your team, sir. We assumed that you had immediately dispatched the Naari in that section like you did in the first. Why?"_ Ellis's voice was laden with suspicion.

"They dropped before we even got to them. Todd, Swordborne, and I made a preemptive strike with our minds to snag what intel we could before the bulkhead finished rising. By the time we actually could pass through they were already dead. We weren't even that particularly aggressive. I was in the minds of my three for less than 15 seconds," John responded. "I need Beckett, Biro, and Keller up here asap. They need to examine the bodies and figure out what the hell happened. If they are somehow susceptible to something we did, we need to know."

"_I'll relay the message now, sir. Also, medical is requesting permission to beam up Dr. Sheppard and Councilor Lorne, sir. They apparently require assistance with the engineer that was bitten. The doctors think the Naari must have some sort of venom or something because the engineer went into shock pretty fast. They haven't been able to slow the bleeding and her system is reacting poorly to attempts to help her. They also can't move her, so our two Ancient healers are needed up here," _Ellis explained.

"Yeah, a few Nox would probably be a better idea, as long as the Naari have been fully cleared out," John pointed out.

"_We have two Nox healers on the ship already, sir. Dr. Potter had a severe reaction to their attempt at healing her. Whatever is in her system, the Nox can't fix it and possibly made it worse," _Ellis countered. "_We need Dr. Sheppard and Councilor Lorne. The Nox are saying the Alteran healing method is different from theirs and they believe it will work better. Sir, Dr. Potter doesn't have long."_

"Alright, fine. You have clearance to beam them up," John agreed reluctantly. While Rikki had taken some time to work with Beckett to build up her 'healing stamina', she was still a bit young and prolonged healing or complex healing really took it out of her. As for Abby, she had only recently developed her abilities and didn't have a lot experience healing. He had no idea how the two of them could do better than the Nox healers assigned to the ship, but they at least had to try to help this Dr. Potter.

It took a few more minutes before Beckett and Biro showed, "Jennifer is in the infirmary. She is more concerned about Dr. Potter's condition than how these fellows died. There's no helping them, while Dr. Potter might be saved." Beckett told them. They were accompanied by a few of the military who were handling the wheeling of the gurneys for the bodies.

John nodded in agreement, "Well, you should have a good opportunity of examining the anatomy of these guys. We didn't even touch them."

"So Col. Ellis said. Any theory as to how they died?" Beckett asked as he warily approached and checked over the first body with a hand-held scanner. He relaxed when he finished his scan, which probably meant that he wasn't picking up any residual life signs to indicate it had gone into a state of hibernation like a Wraith would.

"We invaded their minds, but I used less force than it took to knock the dying Ladon Radim down, and I was in their heads for less than fifteen seconds total, so I doubt it was that. Maybe an airborne pathogen that we're completely immune to that was on the ship is highly lethal to them?" John suggested.

Biro snorted, "That would have to be one aggressive little bugger of a pathogen. Even the Replicator's nano-virus took eight hours to kill a human. It's more likely the telepathy, but we'll explore all avenues. At least, we'll have a few intact cadavers to do an in-depth study of their anatomy. That will be useful in so many ways. If Dr. Potter's bite wound was subject to a venom, we could try to determine what it is, how the body developed it, and develop an anti-venom for the future."

"Aye, that would certainly be useful, since the Nox apparently can't heal the issue, whatever it is," Carson agreed. "Though if the telepathy impacted the brain chemistry, we might not have an intact brain."

John winced, "Well, I can't say that the brains of the ones we chopped up will be intact either if it was the telepathy. Their minds were completely unguarded… Which is why they are now no longer intact. Any one in that engine room probably needs extensive therapy. They… well you'll get our report on what they were mentally focused on within the next few days."

Swordborne, John could sense was still seething from what he pulled from the Naari mind he had intentionally entered. To be honest, John just wanted to take both his daughters, plus Rikki's friends and have massive cuddle pile with them for the next week to reassure himself that they were safe, and he knew Todd felt the same. Hell, Teyla clearly wanted to be away from the bodies in front of them.

"Ah, not a pleasant encounter I expect. Well, I'm certain that Gen. O'Neill wants an update on what's occurred," Beckett agreed. Even he was picking up on Teyla's agitation.

John nodded in agreement and gestured to the others to follow him. He headed for the bridge, needing to give Ellis orders, he also planned on going to the infirmary and checking on Rikki. As soon as they were out of ear shot of Beckett and Biro, John commed O'Neill, "Gen. Sheppard to Gen. O'Neill. Jack, my team is going to need a half hour mental break before we report for debrief."

"_Why?"_ Jack was as to the point as could be.

"Because apparently the Naari have the rather disturbing hobby of raping and eating their victims alive on a regular basis and we all need the emotional reassurance that our loved ones are, in fact perfectly fine after the Naari came so close to our home," John went with blunt.

There was silence from Jack for a moment before he got the response, "_We can wait a half hour for debrief. I think I need to go cuddle my kid."_

"That's what we need as well," John answered before the communication ended. Shortly after they reached the bridge. "Ellis, you should probably raise your shields to max, and land the Apollo on its pier. You can consider the Apollo temporarily grounded for repairs. How the hell did they get you, by the way?"

Ellis grimaced, "We had just retrieved our intel team that had been gathering information on Madrona when one of the relays for the power convertor to the ZPM failed, taking out our cloaking and shields, as well as the wormhole drive. Our engineers got the relay fixed in a matter of minutes, but it was still a long enough period for the ships above Madrona to notice us and attack. We managed to fend off most of their fighters, but two got through our defenses and latched on just before our power was restored. Obviously, we immediately brought our shields back up and jumped home, but the damage was already done. Sir, we should send ships to evacuate the Madronans immediately. If the Naari figure out that they were sharing information on them with us…"

"They'll be wiped out. Report to O'Neill immediately and fill him in. The sooner we get ships there, the better our chances of helping them," John agreed.

Ellis nodded and followed John off the bridge. John and Todd headed for the infirmary while everyone else headed directly for the transporter room. When he got to the infirmary, it was to see Rikki and Abby standing over the woman who had been bitten, their hands placed in several positions over her body. As he approached, Rikki's shoulders slumped in overt relief, "I think that was it."

Keller ran a scanner over the woman as Rikki and Abby stepped back warily. When the scanner finished, Keller nodded, "Her vitals have stabilized and the… whatever that was is gone from her system. The wound also looks like it's sealed neatly. She could use a blood transfusion though."

"Repairing the cells is one thing. Replacing what's gone is something entirely different," Rikki pointed out. She turned and saw John and Todd. "Dad! You're okay!"

John didn't verbally respond, just closed the distance and pulled her into a tight hug. Todd was a step behind John and wrapped around both of them, "Um… I wasn't hurt you know… I'm fine…" Rikki's muffled voice sounded from against John's chest.

"I know. Just needed the physical reassurance. Sorry, Pipsqueak," John felt one of the knots in his stomach ease ever so slightly before giving Rikki a final squeeze before pulling away and giving Abby a brisk hug as well. "Now to check on the others."

Rikki's bemused expression didn't leave as John departed with Todd. The technician running the Asgard transporter didn't ask where too, they just activated the thing, sending them directly to the gate room. Thankfully, with the city's transporters, it was a quick trip back to their rooms where Kannan had been watching Fianna. The rest of Rikki's little group that John had taken on a parental figure role to were also present. Tom was the one who actually held Fianna and didn't hesitate to hand over the six-month-old over to her fathers. Tom, however, was startled when John, once Fianna was in his arms, pulled him into a hug as well, before gesturing for Amelia, Seb, and Jeff to join as well. While John knew empirically that none of them had come close to being hurt the mental images of the Naaris' desires were enough to make it necessary for John and Todd to have the tangible evidence in front of them.

When that hug ended, John pulled Rodney and William into a hug. Then Liam and Cooria, followed by Serwen, Orrilin, and TJ. The entire time, he didn't let his own baby go. However, the brushes of the innocent minds seemed to ease some of his horror from the minds of the Naari. These were his family, the ones he would viciously fight to protect. Eventually, he had to admit that he had to report to the debrief and reluctantly relinquished Fianna back to Tom. Kannan looked distinctly unsettled and John suspected the man, whose Wraithkin DNA, while not entirely imparting the understanding that those like Teyla and Jinto had, still made him perceptive enough to realize that they had all seen something disturbing in the minds of the Naari.

John found Jack in the conference room along with the rest of the Council. Swordborne was lingering in the hall with Lara Ford, clearly reluctant to relinquish his hold on his love. John sent him a gentle mental prod to join them. A few whispered words to Lara and he was entering while Lara moved away from the door, but not far. John suspected that she did that more for Swordborne's mental health than anything else. Jack and Carter, who John figured Jack had shared his disturbing revelation of with, had much grimmer expressions than the others.

"I've ordered the Cthulhu, the Hammond, the Terra, and the Odyssey to Madrona to evacuate it's people. The population was never very big so, we should be able to relocate them to a safe location in Pegasus. We can shelter them for a few weeks here while we look for a suitable planet if they aren't interested in staying with us," Jack started the debriefing.

John nodded, "Glad to hear it. Hopefully, we can react faster than they can and get the Madronans out of there before the Naari can retaliate. The… I got a decent amount of intel from their minds. Todd and Swordborne did as well. This is what I got. They aren't going to negotiate with anyone. I doubt they understand what the word means. The species seems to thrive on extreme violence. The only reason they haven't completely killed themselves off with infighting is that they learnt to direct their predatory behavior towards those who aren't of their species. That isn't to say that they aren't vicious as hell to their own people, they just find it less… costly to target other species, which is why they hunt other worlds. They destroyed their own so long ago, I don't think they even know where it originally was.

"At least the three that I got the information from that's as far as their knowledge went on the matter. Good news is that if we managed to clean out the Naari from the Milky Way, the risk of any retaliatory attacks are almost non-existent. The other good news is that they apparently have a pattern they follow. When they 'enter new territory' they scan the galaxy for any high-powered threats. Earth was obviously one. The different clans, tribes, whatever you want to call them, work together to eliminate those with power, using numbers to overwhelm them. Once they've eliminated any big powers, they scatter and it's each group for their own. They take control over 'prey' worlds and... satisfy their urges."

John paused and Jack took the initiative to speak, "And I'm assuming their urges include raping and eating their 'prey' alive?"

"Among other things. They favor… younger… prey," John felt bile rising at the thought. He forced himself to focus though. "That's all I managed to get from the three minds of those that I entered that isn't more technical informantion. I know it's not a lot, but it's a hell of a lot more than we had before."

Todd added what he knew, "I obtained different information from the minds of the two that I entered… They are… unusual. Those who breed their young and those who sire them live almost entirely segregated. They… do not… procreate in a manner that would be familiar to either humans or Wraithkin, or even an Iratus bug. I do not even believe that they are truly… different genders so much as different priorities in their behavior.

"The… breeders, for a lack of a better word, will obtain genetic materials from the 'sires' in a brief, minimal contact, and then combine various sources of genetic material in some form of pod or cocoon that grow the young. These breeders also… care for the young, though not in any manner anyone among the Wraithkin, Humans, Jaffa, or even Tok'ra would view it as such. What I know of their upbringing is from the personal experience of the… abominations that I entered the mind of. The young often fight and kill each other. The breeders are also frequently physically violent towards the young and aren't unknown to kill them as well, if they appear particularly weak, either physically or mentally. The intelligent young are separated from the strong young at some certain point and if they aren't either, they are killed. The intelligent young stay with the breeders to be educated and trained to handle their technology, or at least that was what the abominations believed was what occurs, and the strong are sent to train with the adults in the ways of combat and violence. If their leader of each group is generally the most intelligent and violent and they have no issue with killing their own if challenged. General infighting is frowned upon, but I doubt beyond those practices they have any actual laws as we would view them."

Swordborne nodded in agreement, "They… they don't form emotional bonds. I can't add much beyond what Gen. Sheppard and Master Specialist Sheppard have given. The only additional thing that I seemed to pick up is that they apparently view compassion as the ultimate weakness. The ones that seemed to show any concern for others were killed early and if the one I entered the mind of felt fear, he didn't have it as a surface concern. The one other thing I picked up was that those perceived weaknesses make them believe their 'prey' are lesser and are ample justification to them for their treatment of others."

Woolsey looked a little green, but he spoke before anyone else could, "Well, that does paint a rather grim picture. Even the Wraith who are still holding out against us have the excuse of the feeding being the only way the Wraith know, and they at least hold to standards… Well, the ones who aren't in the breeding colonies at least do."

"Oh, I doubt even the sires that run the breeding colonies would be capable of relating to the Naari. In fact, if we can get the remaining Wraith queens to meet with us, I think we can negotiate a truce. There is one thing that the Wraith Hives and every Lantean can agree on is that children aren't fucking food. And the… well, rape of any one but particularly that of children is heinous beyond compare," John half wished that he had been able to chop the six others up, for all that they were dead. "It is my personal recommendation that we adopt a take no prisoners approach with these guys. Their minds are completely defenseless against telepathy. I think that's why Mom wanted us to unite with the Wraithkin. It's a brilliant tactical advantage. We can just yank the intel we need out of their minds and not worry about interrogations."

There was a moment of silence as everyone on the council considered that for a moment. It was Daniel who broke it, "As much as it pains me to say this, considering that the study of cultures is literally my life's work, but I have to agree with that assessment. They sound… quite frankly worse than the Goa'uld. Even at their most callus and predatory, the Goa'uld still didn't… consuming living people or rape children, that I know of anyway. And at least some of them, in the Tok'ra, have proven that they were capable of changing their ways. The Naari seem to intentionally destroy any potential for compassion or consideration for others at an early point in their development. It's no wonder that they have the impulse to kill when it's all they seem to crave. It's as if they are the natural opposite of the Nox."

"Well, I'm definitely taking the side of burn them all with fire. Personally, I think anyone who has ever been or ever plans to be a parent agrees with me on that. I _never _want my son to have to face a threat because I didn't make the effort to destroy it when it made itself present. Scientifically speaking, genetics can hold a massive sway over the behavior of a being. It honestly sounds as if they are intentionally breeding any potential good out of their species," Carter looked as repulsed as was possible.

Jack shrugged, "What she said. I'd be insane to argue with that logic when we share a kid."

Abby's face was stone cold as she gave her verdict, "My responsibility is to the future. There is no future if we do not protect it. These people… beings do not sound as if they are the type that are inclined to ever consider surrender, if they would understand what the word even means. No prisoners."

Woolsey nodded in agreement, "And mine is to the law. By the sounds of it, violence and what we would consider the most heinous of crimes are ingrained into their way of life, and not only out of necessity for their survival as with the Wraith. I highly doubt they would surrender as well, but as Col. Carter said, anyone who has ever felt responsible for the wellbeing of a child would never wish for any child to encounter such an evil."

Keller grimaced and shook her head, "My Hippocratic oath is to harm no human, and I have stretched that to include the Wraithkin, Jaffa, and any Tok'ra or Nox that I might be responsible for, in that unlikely event. That being said. I think it would be a violation of that oath to defend the Naari unless we see some massive variation in their behavior between the children and adults. I agree that, with this particular enemy alone, taking no prisoners might be the best course of action."

"Well, it's my personal opinion that any attempt to take prisoners, beyond for the purpose of gathering intelligence which can obviously be done without taking prisoners, thanks to our Wraithkin citizens, would be viewed very poorly, and as a reckless endangerment of all peoples of the Pegasus and Milky Way Galaxies. As such, no prisoners," Torres rounded off the votes.

Woolsey nodded, "Then the Council's vote is unanimous. In any further altercations with the Naari, there is to be _no _attempts to take prisoners. The risk has been deemed to high to allow for it even if they seemingly surrender."

"The Nox won't like it, but then they came running to us because they knew that we were capable of actually fighting the Naari. They will just have to suck it up," O'Neill declared. "I do want anyone who is capable of telepathy and who picked up the thoughts of the Naari to have a few counselling sessions though. That kind of disturbing shit can really mess with your head if you aren't careful."

"I'm going to second that and make it mandatory. I will make sure that the Nox meet with anyone who came into direct contact for a minimum of three therapy sessions to ensure that they can process the events in a healthy manner," Keller ordered. "More sessions will be applied if it's necessary."

John nodded in understanding. He had probably been in more therapy sessions in the past year and a half than he had in the previous fifteen years, and yet for all the messed-up shit he had encountered, he was in a pretty good mental head space. Part of that could be attributed to his marriage to Todd but talking out what he had seen was part of it as well. In this instance in particular, he really couldn't argue for the necessity of it. They had seen the intent of the Naari in the room to rape and eat those in the engine room. It was almost bazaar to John that those monstrosities didn't have sex to procreate but would intentionally derive pleasure from raping others.

Then again, there was nothing rational about basing an entire existence and way of life on the vilest of urges to cause pain, suffering, and fear in others. They were dismissed and John immediately followed the others from the room. He picked up Swordborne's intent of spending the night with his girlfriend and honestly, it sounded as if it was a smart plan, all things considered.

When they went back to the hall where all their rooms were, they finally went to go eat their now cold dinner, predominantly in silence. When they had all finished forcing down the almost tasteless food, John looked at Rikki and her friends, "Any chance I can persuade you to all participate in a massive sleepover, cuddle pile for the night?"

Tom and the others looked surprised, but he just shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first time we used them as a comfort medium. Just a little different that it will be you guys that we're comforting. Everyone, grab your bedding and whatever other pillows and whatnot from your rooms."

The young adults accepted this order and went to go retrieve them. John gave Teyla, Ronon, and Rodney and their kids hugs once more before heading to his and Todd's suite. Todd retrieved Fianna's bassinet and settled her within it before helping John round up all their pillows and blankets and laying all the pillows out of the floor. John couldn't help the sardonic chuckle as the kids, his kids really, brought all their pillows and couch cushions in as well and helped John and Todd arrange a make-shift nest.

Fianna's bassinet, with her inside, was placed in the center. They then had the kids arrange themselves around it and Todd and John took the outside positions. It would be the first time they were sleeping with distance between them, but John was certain that it was the only way they would be able to sleep at all, given the events that they had witnessed in the minds of the Naari. Of course, despite the close proximity, he and Todd were still plagued with nightmares of the Naari harming the kids and woke Fianna accidently several times in the process.

In the morning, all of them were up early. Rikki was clearly groggy as she was lured from the nest with the promise of strong Athosian tea by Tom and Amelia. That group planned to make for the pier that had the Apollo docked on it and even as John left their rooms with Todd and Fianna, he could hear Rikki commenting to Jeff to make sure that Eli knew he was needed for a special project that superseded his classes. John filed the information away that Rikki considered the older teen intelligent enough that she didn't think he was only worthy of sitting at a desk and studying texts she threw at him.

The biggest part of the repairs to the Apollo would be safely removing the Naari ships from the hull of the Apollo and this would be completely foreign and new tech for them. Todd commented that he would assist them as well, and John nodded in agreement. With their exposure to the minds of the Naari, he might not have a full knowledge of the Naari language, but he would have extracted some semblance and a minor familiarity with whatever text they used as a language which would be a vital starting point. At the minimum, he would have some basic understanding of the ship's functions. John had picked that up from the minds of those he had invaded on his own.

As for him, John had to, much to his annoyance and disgust, write the report of what had had happened. It was thankfully as straight forward as it could get given the circumstances and the majority of the information wouldn't be coming from him. He knew that Dr. Biro would be performing the autopsies of the Naari first thing in the morning and by the time he had written his report and turned it in, she would have at least two of the bodies thoroughly analyzed. The woman was scarily efficient when it came to Pathology. Granted, she also talked a lot, but she was still the top pathologist the Lanteans had.

John took longer than he would have liked typing up the report. The primary action was easy enough to describe in the report, but what he had pulled from the minds of the Naari was difficult to convey in any form. It wasn't that it was particularly shocking. It would be hard to say that after the initial contact with their minds. It wasn't as if John was unaware of the dangers the universe as a whole presented to every species that didn't keep to their own planet and even those that did. Between the Goa'uld, the Ori, and the Wraith, he had seen some pretty drastic and horrifying things. Hell, even the humans of Earth, in very rare capacity, had been known to rape, murder, and eat their victims. Those were the ones that were beyond the hope of redemption though, the worst of the worst of humanity.

The Naari took that predatory concept and turned it into their ultimate ideal of strength. That was what was horrifying. To humanity cannibalism was the worst of the worst. It was one of the ultimate taboos of humanity. The way of Naari life also wasn't even about survival. The Wraith had ultimately been understandable, to an extent. They were reliant on feeding on humans for their survival. The callousness towards them was an adaption that occurred in puberty to survive and even then, most of their young didn't survive.

In one of John's recent conversations with Bitterwind, he had asked her the hardest part of being a Queen and she had admitted it was creating life that she knew had only a tiny probability to survive to maturity. She admitted that she suspected the reason that so few of the Wraith lived to as long as she, Semper, and Todd had was simply because the strain eventually became too much. Far too many wraith would end up dead because the stopped fighting while in combat, incapable of ending another life for a single moment. She had seen it more than a few times, where an older wraith would hesitate for a fraction of a second and the fraction was the difference between survival and death.

She had also admitted that the other Queens were likely to get even more, if an opportunity to alter the pattern didn't present itself soon. John could only hope that the opportunity presented itself. He glared at the screen of his computer as he finished typing out the long report of what he had gotten from the minds of the Naari and then saved it and e-mailed it to O'Neill. He turned his focus on Fianna for a bit to feed her, having taken her for the day since Todd was busy with the Apollo and John didn't want her out of their sight, not that they had stopped alternating days with her.

With the report finished, he headed over to the pier where the Apollo was. When he arrived, he was a little surprised to see Jack and Nancy present and standing tentatively outside the ship. It took John a moment to realize why they were there. As the two were the only two in the city with telekinesis, they were the ones who would be catching and lowering the ships from the hull once the scientists figured out how to remove the hermetic seals on the hull.

Jack waved him over, "What have you been up to all morning?"

"Report. Ancestors was that a nasty one to write," John admitted, petting Fianna's head gently as he glanced at the ship. "How are things going?"

"They are still trying to figure out the controls. If you think you could assist with it, it would be nice to not have to stand around all day waiting to catch the damned things. You are the guy who can figure out how to fly just about anything and you did get into the heads of those things," Jack responded.

John sighed, "Right, that makes sense. This… yeah, sure."

John headed up for the ramp that would allow for easy entry into the hold of the ship. It took some navigating to the first ship where there was a hoard of scientists that were all discussing how to extract the smaller ships. Eli and Rikki were with Todd all arguing to press a blinking purple light while others, Rodney included, argued it would be too dangerous. John paused to consider what he had pulled from the minds he had invaded and then nodded and without preamble, commed Jack, "Stand by for the first ship to detach. It is designed to rely on the vacuum of space to yank it out, so you and Nancy will have to do so manually." With that, he moved around the others who were still arguing and hadn't noticed that John was there and pressed the blinking button.

The scientist all yelp as John felt the ship shift as the hatch snapped shut with them inside and then braced himself as the ship was pulled from the hull of the Apollo. The others all lost their balance a little as the jolt of the landing, excepting Todd and Rikki who had braced themselves once they realized what was happening.

"What the hell was that?!" Rodney shrieked at him once they had been set on the pier and John pressed the button again to open the hatch.

John just sighed again, "It's the button for the hatch, which I'm sure that Todd told you, if you had been willing to listen. You know, since he was in the head of one of the Naari that were on this ship? I didn't feel like listening to you lot bicker uselessly for a useless point."

"How did you know they didn't plant that thought for you to think it was a hatch button when it was really the self-destruct?" A clearly paranoid as hell scientist asked. John didn't recognize the guy.

"Because they had no such thing as a mental defense against telepathy and that is necessary for mental deception. Believe me, I know that more than most because I've actually been able to trick a hive Queen that way. These guys didn't have even the basic mental defenses necessary to indicate knowledge that telepathy was even possible, never mind mount an actual defense or a deception against such an intrusion. Who the hell are you by the way? Rodney, why are you listening to this idiot?" John asked disgust for the man clear in his tone.

"That's Dr. Malcom Tunney, idiot supreme. And I wasn't backing his suggestion. I know better than to trust the ideas of someone who's only useful skill is backwards engineering other people's ideas to steal and claim as his own. My concern was actually that it might have had subroutines that we would have no idea how to handle as none of us were pilots. I was insisting on waiting for you because you are the idiot savant when it comes to all things flying," Rodney countered.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. Todd could have managed it too, since he was also in the Naaris' heads, you know," John countered as he opened the hatch and they all filed off the ship.

"Yes, well, he isn't you," Rodney countered. "You can fly anything you touch within minutes of interaction. Todd would take at least a few days to get to understand what the ship needed to fly it on a rudimentary level."

Todd snorted, "He isn't wrong."

John raised an eyebrow at that but didn't argue. Tunney opened his mouth again, unfortunately, "So, we're all just going to ignore the fact that Gen. Sheppard just risked injuring us all even if he did know that it just dealt with the door? What if we had all fallen out of the ship and broken our necks when the hatch closed? That was what was holding it onto the ship!"

"Hey, nitwit, you may want to keep your trap shut. My dad wasn't going to risk me or Fianna, though, I'm pretty sure all of us want to jettison you through the gate to a space gate for all of how useful you are. I don't even know why you reared your thick skull out of your pit in the sand to join us real scientists to resolve this issue," Rikki snapped at him before John could open his mouth.

John had to suppress the urge to laugh even as Nancy sidled over to him, "She is spending too much time with Dr. McKay. Though, she's not wrong."

John's control cracked and he started laughing at that. Nancy rolled her eyes but smirked, undoubtedly because she broke through his typically stoic demeanor. Their once strained and turbulent relationship had relaxed into an easy friendship since Nancy had dug deep into getting her necessary therapy and began working through her issues rather than bottling them up inside. John could swear the Nox were far better therapists than any human had been in what they had done with her alone in the past year. Thankfully, it had meant that they could go back to an easy friendship without any expectations. John had even seen Nancy flirting with Lorne, though, he had no certainty that that would go anywhere. If it did though, John thought they would be a good balance. Both would balance each other out in good ways, if given the chance. John quietly hoped they would give it a chance.

Meanwhile, Tunney seemed to not know how to respond to Rikki's commentary because he gapped at her for a moment before Rodney ripped into him and finally sent him packing. Once the idiot supreme had departed, Rodney hustled John up to the other ship and the repeated the process, though less dramatically this time. Once the extraction process was completed, Jack and Nancy shifted the smaller ships further down the pier while maintenance and repair crews got to work on the Apollo.

With their purpose there done, Jack and Nancy prepared to leave and dragged John with them. Nancy had paperwork to get to and broke off from them before they even left the area. Jack said he wanted to check in on the autopsies. John agreed and passed Fianna off to Todd, not wanting their infant daughter's mind exposed to the turbulence of the minds of those who worked on the bodies of the Naari. With the Naari ships extracted from the Apollo, Todd could handle the baby for a while.

John mentally braced himself, though perhaps unnecessarily, since the Naari were already dead, as they approached to designated morgue. Keller and Beckett were present along with Dr. Biro and two other pathologists that John didn't know the names of. Biro eyed them carefully and pulled away from the bodies. John noticed that she had immediately gone for the brains in the heads. Most of the brains had been extracted and were being examined by the pathologists.

"I was wondering when you lot would show up. Well, I have some good news, depending on your definition of good that is. All six of those that dropped without any signs of external trauma have the same cause of death. Severe brain hemorrhaging. I've never seen anything like it. Then again, I've never seen a brain formed in the same way as theirs either. It is comparative to the size of a human brain and shape too, but it appears to have eight different lobes. Honestly, I don't know how what parts of the brain operates what parts of the body and their functions. In the end though, it is completely irrelevant. The they all had burst blood vessels. The odds are, the ones that you guys telepathically invaded had been brain dead before you hit the ground. Now, the ones you dismembered… they likely would have been dead within a half hour of proximity to Gen. Sheppard and the Wraithkin, if they hadn't actively chop them to bits. They had numerous brain bleeds. Not immediately lethal, but it would have been deadly to them none-the-less. My guess is the cause was the initial telepathic brush from our resident telepaths.

"I can't be certain without seeing the interaction play out in action, but my best guess is that the telepathy causes a severe neurological reaction in their brains. Kind of like a mental allergic reaction. The body attacks itself because it can't handle the contact. It is either that, or some how the telepathy disrupts the neural synapsis in the brain. Either way, the results are the same, like getting a dozen aneurysms at once. It isn't survivable," Biro finished.

"Even the ones that we only brushed against mentally are like that?" John asked. His mind already churning.

"Yep. You are a deadly weapon, to the Naari at least. Granted, it could be just this lot that are susceptible to the telepathy. For all we know others could be capable of handling it just find," Keller shrugged as she inserted herself into the conversation. "We can't know for certain until we know how genetically diverse these guys are. Beckett took some samples and plans on running a DNA sequence. It won't be much with such a small sample size, certainly not enough to build a DNA profile of the species as a whole, but it will tell us how much genetic variation there is between this lot, which is something."

"Right, but for now, we can assume that the Naari have not only zero mental defenses against us, but they also are so sensitive to it that even minor contact with a telepath is lethal to them," Jack looked practically gleeful. "Well, that makes Atlantis and Lantea as a whole impossible to invade. With the number of telepaths within the city and in the ships over it, never mind the Wraith as a whole in Pegasus…"

"We would be the Naaris' worst nightmare, if they knew that. They despise weakness. We're their greatest weakness and potentially one they don't even realize exists," John couldn't help the little smirk before it faded. "Ancestors… That's what Mom meant in her message. Why we need the Wraithkin to defeat the Naari… why Todd and I were essential to her plans. We were her literal weapons. It's why she was able to plan it out. If you know the enemy's weakness, if you can look to the point of them finally encountering a telepath, most likely a Wraith… All she had to do was lay on a plan that ensured that we were on the same side when the time came, or at least close enough to the same side that we would be able to team up to defeat the real threat. That's why she made it so imperative that we work together with the Wraith, or rather the Wraithkin. If the Naari are susceptible to the telepathy, then a species the is inherently telepathic, reliant on it, down to their unborn children, is going to be the most dangerous thing they will ever encounter."

"Damn… That's why you're the leader, the vanguard. The Wraithkin all look to you as their leader now and your telepathy is the strongest of the lot. It's a bold plan. Your mother had one hell of a plan," Jack shook his head.

"Yeah. It… that must have been rough on her. Knowing the best shot at saving humanity is to use your own child as the ultimate weapon against them. No wonder most of her little speech to Dave and I was her apologizing," John grumbled.

"We're going to have to figure out how to get the rest of the Wraith on board with the retrovirus," Jack pointed out. "We need as many telepaths as we can get now."

"No kidding," John commented before snorting as a thought occurred to him. "The weapon systems on the ships that were on Athos… They were never intended for the Naari. We didn't need them for it. Mom never even mentioned using them against the Naari. Her hologram said to use the ships to persuade the Wraith to take the retrovirus. Yeah, they will build up our travel capability for the fight against the Naari, but they are mostly not needed. All we got to do is put some cloaks and wormhole drives on a bunch of hives and let the Wraithkin go to town on circling the Naari ships and blasting them with a mental attack. Even a weak one would be lethal."

"Um… While I appreciate knowing that the information that we supplied you with will help keep humans safe in the long term, I need to ask you two to take your planning to somewhere else. Our pathologists still need to finish these autopsies and the more we know, the better your odds of creating a lethal plan to defeat the Naari are," Keller pointed out, her expression marred by a frown.

John figured that she meant it and Jack did to since he didn't put up a protest as they left. John and Jack were headed to Jack's office when their comms beeped, "_John we need you back with the ships immediately. There is a concern that we require your assistance with." _Rodney sounded grim.

The two generals shared a look and booked it back to the pier. Rodney had apparently figured out how to jack his tablet into the ship's system's though how, John wasn't certain. As soon as he noticed John arrived, he grumbled, "Took you long enough. Boy wonder over there noticed there was a system active and broadcasting something. Todd said that he had an almost non-existent understanding of the language, but he thought you picked up more. We need to know what it says asap."

"Why what's the concern?" John asked, even as he looked at the screen and tried pulling up everything he had dragged from the minds of the Naari. It wasn't great, but he pointed to a word. "That says primary recall… I think. Or may primary summons?"

Rodney and Todd both cursed in unison, though Rodney's was in Ancient and Todd's was in Wraith. The essences of what they said was, "Turn it off now!"

John pulled up his mental images of what the Naari had done before they had got off the ship and then hit a few keys. A stream of new words popped up and John could only make out that it was a question that included the word for deactivate. John hit what he thought was the confirmation button and noticed when Todd and Rodney relaxed a few seconds later. He turned to the two of them, "What was it that I just turned off?"

"We think it was a homing beacon. And since you said they don't do the whole surrender thing, I'm guessing it is so that their main ships know where to find new targets, threats, or prey," Rodney said. "Eli noticed it and thank fuck for that."

"Please tell me it wasn't strong enough to get back to the Milky Way…" John's voice was strained. They had a theory on defense, but he really didn't want to test it.

"It depends. If they had had enough time for their scientists to analysis and understand Ancient tech and what we left behind with our allies over the past year and then update their systems… they might have been able to piggy back off our relays so we can keep in contact with our ships on recon missions," Rodney didn't look happy about it.

"But it's been less than a year and a half, that's too little of a time frame for them to be able to do that, right?" John asked, uncertain of the answer.

"You would know better than us. Are they intelligent enough to do it? Because someone of Todd or mine or Rikki's caliber? They could manage it," Rodney countered.

John winced, "Damn… It's impossible to say. I mean, they keep segregated. The guys I got into the heads of… They didn't have any contact after adolescence to the scientists."

"And kids who are militarily inclined, for a lack of a better word, aren't going to understand what intelligence is actually comparable to us. However, given that we know they have been kicking around from millions of years, based on the Nox intel about what happened to the Furlings, it's probable that they have had enough time," Rodney pointed out.

"Well fuck," Jack summed up simply.

"How long do you think it would take them to reach Atlantis?" John asked immediately. He didn't question if it was possible. They already knew it was, given the alternate timeline where they were obviously in a worse off situation.

Carter, who John realized had also been around, just unseen until now, "Well, given the estimated power levels of their ships, and the time between they got within Earth's long-range telemetry and them actually reaching Earth, I'd say we have about a month. Faster than 304s' hyperdrives but not by too much."

"Well, that's something. Maybe we can cut off the ships at the knees… Intercept them," John suggested.

Carter and Rodney were both shaking their heads. Rodney gave the answer this time, "These ships aren't like Wraith ships. They aren't organic in nature. I'm sure they don't need to drop out of hyperspace and if they are in hyperspace, there is literally no way to stop them… at least not without setting space mines in their direct path and unfortunately, it highly probable that if they are capable of picking up our technological level with whatever sensors they have, they are capable of sensing and evading the space mines. No, they won't be stoppable before they reach Atlantis. The best we can hope is to muster as much of a defense in the process of preparing for them."


End file.
